Northwesterly Changes
by Teya.J
Summary: Deadliest Catch: From foreword "When I was asked to write this autobiography, my initial reaction was to say no. After all, who wants to read about the life of a fisherwoman? I'm just a regular person doing my job. I just happen to be one of the only women in one of, if not the worlds deadliest job. This is my story." Warning: mild-strong adult themes
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own any of the characters in the story - other then Teya (and any other possible OC's that somehow worm their way into the story) - the Deadliest Catch guys are real people and have their own lives and stories to tell, if they wish to tell it, this is a work of fiction and I have yet to even meet these brave men. I am not associated with Deadliest Catch or Discovery Channel in anyway…..no matter how much I wish I was and no copyright is intended to be claimed by me.

_**A/N:**_ This is my first time as a DC writer, and I hope I do this story and the men justice. The story is a mix of the show, my experiences of life on the sea and my childhood. Teya is my own creation, however she has some of my childhood experiences. All boats (other then the Dutch fleet) are fictional, however are based on boats that used to sail out of my home town, except _Asphodel_, she is of my own creation. However this story, as all you smart cookies know, is fiction and as much as I would like to try crab fishing in the Bering Sea, I think I will stick with the Southwest Pacific Ocean, thank you very much!

_**A/N2:**_Due to some abuse that has been happening on the FFnet site - you know who you are, you coward not even leaving signed reviews - I want to clear a few things up.  
Firstly, **_READ the disclaimer._** I don't even know the men in real life, so i can't claim to know what they are like off the boats. Hence why it is called **_FICTION!_**  
Secondly, My name isn't even Teya. Those who know me on twitter know my name and it most definately isn't Teya. That name I came up with around the time I started working on _Alphabet Rum_ and decided to change it from what it originally was in this fic.

If ANYONE ever tries to do what they did to my friend on here by berating and abusing me, you had better be able to pack fire to your heat because I will not stand for it. A constructive criticism will be accepted and filed away but full on out abuse will not be tolerated. Also, if you WANT to try and abuse me, leave a signed review so I can contact you and deal with you in private. You hurt my friends and I will set you in your place, understood?

I hate to have done that, and for those you who aren't the person who I am referring to, please ignore that and read the story. I'm sure you will enjoy it. I'm just defending a friend who has been very hurt by someone who won't reveal who they are.

* * *

**Foreword**

When I was asked by Discovery to write this autobiography, my initial reaction was to say no. After all, who wants to read about the life of a fisherwoman? Then I remembered, I wasn't just a fisherwoman I was, actually I should say I am a minor celebrity, someone who people sat down every week to see how my life is progressing, watching both the highs and lows. I am, to these people, a star and to some even a hero but I don't consider myself to be any of these, I'm just a regular person doing my job. I just happen to be one of the only women in one of, if not the worlds deadliest job.

The name that people know me by now is not the same name I was born with. Sure my first name is still the same, but I have changed it twice since I was born. Once when I left my family, disowned and a disgrace to the family, and then when I was married. My three names represent the three biggest phases of my life. My childhood as Teya Meyer, my days working as a fisherwoman in Australia and Alaska as 'Duchess' Teya Jansen and finally as a wife and soon to be mother Teya Hansen.

This is my story.

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**Chapter One**

The sun was shining on the sea while I was cursing up a storm. Even though the seas was calm I was in a lot of trouble. I was in the middle of the ocean, no radio and adrift because my engine had blown. The single prop vessel was drifting further away from the Australian coastline and I was thanking Hades that I had the foresight to have spare engine parts on board. I was tinkering away trying to fix the problem, but my time was limited, it was winter and it was only an hour until sundown and I had no idea where my torch was. I think I lost it overboard last time the engine failed. There was no one on the radar when I last looked before the power went out on the '_Asphodel'. _No one knew where I was and no one would be looking for me. If I didn't get this engine started by sundown, I could crash into the nearby island and that was a scary thought.

Just on sundown the engine finally roared to life and a breathed a semi sigh of relief. It was only a patch fix, I'd need to dry-dock or at least dock to have a proper look at the problem and fix it, but it should hopefully be enough to get me back to town. The patch would only hold for a few hours at most, hopefully enough time to get back, it would be very close. Getting back to town was only part of the problem, I then had to convince the slip-master to allow the _'Asphodel'_ to dry-dock while I fixed the engine and then I had to convince the shipwright to order the parts I needed. It was not going to be easy, since the slip-master is my father and the shipwright my uncle and I groaned at the conversation that I had to have with them, it was not going to be pretty and it would bring up all the old arguments again.

Ever since I was a little girl all I wanted to be when I grew up was a fisherwoman. I am the eighth generation fisherperson in the family and my father was my hero when I was a child. When I first voiced my desire to be a fisherwoman, my mother and father shot down the idea and immediately organised for me to go to classes similar to finishing school. They wanted me to be a proper lady, full of grace and poise. I still remember that gruelling schedule I was forced to keep. Mondays I had dance lessons with the other girls, Tuesdays was piano and singing lessons (which I didn't mind, I still play the piano and sing up till this day), Wednesdays was basketball, Thursdays was cooking classes (for which I am grateful for), Fridays was tennis and Saturdays was elocution and deportment lessons with my grandmother and then off to language classes. Sunday was the only day I had off but even then I was to continue practicing all that I had learnt over the past week and I also had to fit in school work in there as well. I loved the sports, I was one of the only times that I could just be me, relax and have fun with the other children, of course it was to keep me fit and healthy, but it was fun.

I kept up this schedule even through the school holidays, that was when I did most of the language studies, but I would often sneak off after lessons and head down to the lake on the other side of the road and go fishing. I use to hide my line and homemade traps by the lakes edge or over at a neighbours place. If I was caught I would be punished by my father, and I when I was in my young teens I was punished a lot since I would skip out on classes to go fishing. I hated the punishments, but I loved fishing.

And it was my love of fishing that lead me to come out and work on the ocean after I graduated school. At first I was a greenhorn for one of the other family's in the town who own several boats in the town fleet of around 70 boats. My family owned six of those boats, one for each of my fathers brothers and his dad, they were all captains and each boat would fish for different catches.

It wasn't long after I graduated high school that the Australian Government introduced new marine parks in our area that stopped all commercial fishing for up to twenty nautical miles off the coast, and they bought out up to 90 percent of the boats. My father was not happy, none of the fishermen were, their livelihoods were now gone. But my father and his brothers were one step ahead of the game, they bought the slipway a couple of years beforehand as they had foreseen that something like this was due to happen. But no matter I still wanted to fish and damn it all to Hades I was going to fish! When the boat I was working on as deckhand was bought out, my father bought me a boat. I was so excited to hear that finally, finally my father was approving of my chosen career. However it was not to be.

My father had bought me a deathtrap. There were so many things wrong with the boat that, if I were honest it would probably sink if I blew on it the wrong way. But it was mine. Father told me that I could use whatever parts I could find at the yard to repair the boat, but I had to do it all myself. Up until I was working on the '_Southern Cross'_ the first boat I was worked on as a greenhorn, I had never even held a power tool. I had to learn how to do everything as I rebuilt my boat. I spent over a year working on the boat learning how to rebuild an engine, how to weld, learnt carpentry, plumbing, electrical work and how to program computers and the like. Hell I even painted that boat myself. My father didn't lift and finger and refused to teach me how to do anything, I was able to somehow convince my uncles or my old crew mates to give me a hand on the sly if there was something I couldn't work out. I think he thought that I would eventually give up and want to go to university like my younger brother and sister wanted to, I didn't. Finally though, I had my boat in working condition, and I was ready to sail her.

I named her _Asphodel_ and she wasn't much to look at. Only 60ft in length, little more then half the size of the _Northwestern _where I work now, painted white with pale yellow trim. I admit the first trip wasn't the best, I was still working out the kinks in small issues that she had, but I was sailing and my father was pissed. When I came back into port he was standing on the docks with two bags, one on either side of him. When I docked he threw both of them on the deck and told me that this was all I owned now and that there was some paperwork in one of the bags to hand over to the police. He said that I wasn't to come back home, that I was no longer a member of the family. I was not to see him, mother or my brother and sister again. They had had enough of me and my fishing dreams and so they threw me out. Turns out that paperwork was the official separation papers.

I had just come down past the lake entrance and around the Camel, a part of the cliffs that are just to the north and was nearing town, I only had maybe four nautical miles till port, till I could get down and really look at that engine when it happened. The power went out. On the Bering sea, this is a very bad thing to happen, one wave and you along with the rest of the crew would be gone. In Australia, its not that bad. Yes we still have some bad weather but nothing like the Bering. Thankfully I was close to shore and could drop anchor for the night, it was already dark the sun having set a few hours ago while I was up near the island. I had been limping back to port trying not to push the engine hoping I could make the ten nautical miles home. Unfortunately it was not to be and I could do nothing until daylight since I had also lost my torch. So down went the anchor, all systems shut off that so that if the power somehow managed to turn back on I would not blow something else up, and I went to sleep.

The _Asphodel_ was not that big of a boat and I slept mainly in the wheelhouse. I converted the old bench that was there into a daybed where I could sleep, keeping the captains stateroom for any visitors that I had, not that I ever had any. I didn't have any crew so those staterooms were used as storage rooms for extra engine parts. When I rebuilt the boat I made it so I could haul gear with only one hand, me, after all who wanted to fish in the current fishing situation and under a female captain? I could control the boat from the deck if needed, I just wouldn't have access to radar or phone.

I remember I slept well that night, or as well as I could, being lulled by the gentle rocking of the waves and hearing the strain on the anchor line. One ear and one eye always open. I've been doing this for a few years now and knew my boat and what she was capable of. When morning came thankfully the weather hadn't turned. I got up and looked out over the forepeak and noticed I wasn't that far from land, closer then I had expected really. I could swim that distance and walk into town, it would take a while but I really had no option, my phone was down and so was the radio. Unlike the boats you see on the show I didn't have a loud-hailer, or as Matt Bradley calls it a squawk-box, I didn't need one on the _Asphodel _so even if another boat was nearby I couldn't talk to them.

I went and had a look at the engine after I had eaten a sandwich and it wasn't looking good for the poor engine. The patch that I had placed on it the previous night hadn't held and I didn't have any more spare parts to fix the fix. I would have to go to town and get a tow into harbour. How embarrassing.

I prepped everything I needed, changed into some lightweight clothing, picked up my small bag of provisions and locked up the boat. I never even looked over the side of the rail that faced out to the open ocean, if I had I would have noticed that there was a vessel close by, one of the chartered gaming boats that work out of the harbour. I just jumped overboard and swam away from the boat towards the shore. When I surfaced I heard several men screaming out 'Man overboard!' and the roar of an engine. I looked around and noticed that boat was coming towards me and I realised that these men were going to pick me up and I can tell you I was pissed. I had my plan and god damn it I was going to stick with it! I was going to get to that shore without their help, and I was going to fix my boat. However these guys had other plans.

I had only managed to swim maybe a hundred and fifty meters from the _Asphodel_ when the _Vintage Dawn_ arrived and a life preserver was thrown in front of me. I stopped and treaded water flipping the men on deck the bird and gave them the evil eye. I heard a familiar voice telling me to grab hold of the damn life ring or he would jump in after me. I hadn't expected to hear my brother on that boat and sure enough there he was standing on deck, hands folded across his chest glaring at me, surrounded by six other men who I'd never seen before. I gave an internal sigh and grabbed hold of the life ring and felt as the men started to pull me towards the _Vintage Dawn._

Finally I was pulled over the rail and I stood glaring at my younger brother. Fuck he had grown so tall! He was now easily nearly a head and a half taller then me and I'm not that short, 5'3, well I don't really consider that to be short. He had a bushman's beard now, last time I had seen him he was just going through puberty. Even though I hadn't seen my brother for at least six years now, I could tell he was pissed.

"What the fuck did you think you were doing?" he said calmly, and I knew then and there I was in big trouble. He never used _that_ tone with me. A small shudder went down my spine, it reminded me of our father. I just stared him down, ignoring the other men who were on the deck.

"What no 'Hello my lovely older sister, how are you? What have you been doing?' Nice to see you too brother. What has it been, five, no _six_ years now." I rolled my eyes at him. He stood as rigid as ever, eyes boring into mine in a silent battle of wills that neither one of us wanted to lose. Must be the Dutch blood in us from our mother's father.

"Yeah yeah Duchess, now answer my question." I sighed, reached up and started to wring my medium length, light brown hair out, while still glaring at him.

"Get me a towel first Boy-yo and then you can have your answers." A towel was passed over to me by one of the other men on the boat, who I had yet to be introduced too. I flicked my eyes over to the man who had passed me the towel and gave him a small smile of thanks, he wasn't too bad on the eyes either round about my age and a little boyish in the face. I started to dry off as I walked over to one of the seats on deck, all eyes watching me.

"You can sit down you know." I rolled my eyes at the guys on deck. "By the way, who is making sure that you don't crash into my boat, Boy-yo?" I asked my brother who was still standing with his arms crossed. Man he needs to calm down.

"Lochie is driving. Now answer the question or do I have to ask again?" I raised my eyes up-wards and mumbled some very choice words in a variety of languages, thanks to the classes when I was younger.

"Alright alright, don't get your knickers in a twist. My engine is down and I was trying to get back to town to get some parts and a tow. Who are your mates? I thought you never wanted anything to do with fishing after that prawning incident." My brother rolled his eyes at the mention of his misfortune and sat down on the other side of the boat. I started to rub my hair dry, chocolate locks falling everywhere.

"What the hell happened to your engine? And why was abandoning ship the best of ideas? You're in the middle of the fucking ocean Duchess, you know the risks of leaving your boat unattended." I glared at my brother, he hadn't changed since I last saw him. Still a little overprotective and over-bearing but he was my brother, thats his job.

"I beach is like five hundred meters away, we've swam further then that before. Fuck Boy-yo we've gone from one side of Black Duck to the other. I don't see what the issue is, I've done this before and my boat has been perfectly fine." I finished drying myself off as best I could, I was not going to be stripping in front of a group of unknown men in the middle of the ocean.

"We swam from our place to the caravan park thats not the other side of Black Duck Lake. Why am I only just hearing now that you have left your boat abandoned like this before? Duchess you know better." I rolled my eyes.

"You know what it is like for me, not having the support I have, and the outdated equipment. I have to fend for myself most of the time Boy-yo. Now tell me who are these men before I jump ship from a perfectly good boat and swim to shore regardless of who you are and where we are." My brother rolled his eyes, but complied, knowing that I would do so. That was the Dutch in me again.

"Walrus double-booked the boat, this is actually the first time I've met these guys. Lochie and me were going out for a spin up to the island and these guys, well they wanted to fish, so we made a deal. We'd show them where the northern fishing grounds are and they drop us off at the island and pick us back up on the way through." There was only one reason why my brother Evan would ever set foot on the island and with Lochie of all people. Not many people in the town knew, or at least they didn't say anything about it, was that my brother was a user. He didn't do it often, and only on the safety of the island where no one lived. He was more focused on university during most of the year, but he was in town during the winter break to let off some steam.

"So, are you going to introduce me to these fine looking gentlemen?" I asked, eyeing the men who were around the deck, my eyes falling on a tall blond haired man who had caught my fancy. Many of the men snorted in amusement at the word gentlemen.

"If you want to believe that we are gentlemen, then go ahead Princess. I can safely tell you that we are only gentlemen some of the time, more often then not we are very bad boys." Said one of the dark haired men. He was slightly shorter then the others, but it was easy to see that he was related to the two blonds who were around his age, if not a little older. "Edgar Hansen." He said coming over and shaking my hand. It was immediately obvious when he shook my hand that he was not a pencil pusher, the rough hands were as familiar as the mens in town. Fisherman's hands. Evan rolled his eyes at Edgar.

"Americans. Anyway Duchess, meet Matt, Jake, Nick, Norman and you've just met Edgar. They are deckhands on an Alaskan fishing vessel." He pointed out each of the men in turn, leaving the man who had caught my eye unnamed as of yet. "That man over there is their Captain, Sig. Americans, meet my older sister Teya Jansen, the Duchess. Owner and Captain of that junk-bucket over there." I gave a small cry out outrage at my brother calling my boat and junk-bucket.

"Jansen? I thought you said your last name was Meyers, Evan." Asked one of the men, if I remember correctly it was Matt who asked. I rolled my eyes at the unasked question which I knew was going through their heads, even with the not so subtle glances to my left hand.

"No I am not married, so get that thought out of your head. The easiest way to say it is I am no longer a member of the family and that is all you need to know. After all I do not know who any of you are. Now if you don't mind can I get back to doing what I was doing? As much as I thank you all for the 'rescue' I have a boat to go and fix and I need to get the parts before the day ends."

"It's drilled in our heads that when we see someone go overboard to get them back, no matter the situation Princess." Edgar said. "Be grateful we even got you out of the water. Now we can take you back to port and get your part you need, come back and fix your boat before lunchtime and we can all be on our merry way."

"Stop calling me Princess. It's bad enough that Evan calls me Duchess." I glared at Edgar, daring him to call me princess again. I would be more then willing to show him not to mess with me, at least if I was on the _Asphodel _I'd show him, seeing as I didn't have any equipment to actually help put him in his place other then my wit and sarcasm. "And I don't need your help. I know what I am doing. I've done this a fair few times." I whacked my brother up the back of the head when I heard him cough 'junk-bucket' under his breath.

"What do you know of engines and boats Princess? You can't be any older the Junior over there." I bristled at being called Princess again.

"It matters not how old I am." I snapped at the man. "I know that boat like the back of my hand, I rebuilt her from the keel up by myself, thank you very much. I know how she handles and what is wrong with her. I bet you wouldn't be able to figure out what was wrong with her." I challenged Edgar, and looking back at this it probably wasn't the best of idea's.

"Princess, I bet you a hundred I can not only figure out what is wrong but I could fix it as well." I raised my eyebrows and looked at the other Americans on deck, especially from the Captain, after all there is no better recommendation then that of the captain. Sig nodded his head.

"He could. He is our engineer on the _Northwestern. _He can just about fix anything on our boat in 30ft seas." I pondered for but a brief moment.

"But the _Asphodel_ is not your boat, and things are set up on her very differently from your trawlers and long-liners in America. Fuck, she is set up differently from any boat in Australia as well."

"Who said anything about trawlers and long-liners? I know I didn't." Asked Edgar, looking at the rest of the crew who were looking more and more amused. "We're crabbers. Big steel pots and the like, not like anything you've ever seen Princess." I ground my teeth and scowled at the nickname. Seems like I would be stuck being called Princess as my nickname, and to this day I still get called Princess by Edgar and most of the DC fleet.

"You've never seen anything like the _Asphodel_ either, that I can assure you." I snapped, crossing my arms across my chest. Then he said it, two words that I can never say no to.

"Prove it." My eyes narrowed at the arrogant man, my brothers on the other hand were widening. I swear that he could practically smell the anger that was coming off of me that day. He knew that if I let Edgar on that boat with just myself, no one was going to see him alive again. Well, to be honest I probably would have stopped at the removal of the things that made him a man but we'll never know because Evan jumped in to try and defuse the situation before it got out of hand.

"Calm down before I throw both of you overboard. Honestly, Duchess calm down before you hurt someone, I know you are planning his death in your head but try not to think about it anymore." He said before rounding on Edgar. "And Hansen, a quick bit of advice for you. Never, and I mean NEVER challenge Teya to anything. It won't end out well for you." I sniffed in disdain at my brother and started to sulk a little, he really had to stop ruining my fun. All was quiet on the deck for a few moments, the atmosphere tense before my brother come up with a suggestion.

"Teya, Edgar is going to go and look at your engine." I started to protest against allowing this American pig on my boat but my brother cut me off before I could even begin my rant. "No, you don't get to say anything. He is going on your boat, he will look at your engine, try to fix it and if he can't we'll tow you back to the harbour. And just to make sure you don't go and kill each other I nominate that the Captain goes with you. Hopefully he should be able to help control his brother, because good lord no one can control you." I was pissed at that. Not only did I have to allow that arrogant ass onto my boat but I knew there was no way out of it because my brother was deadly serious, he used my actual name which meant there was no room for argument.

"Fine, I don't like it but I will fucking do it." I got up, still glaring at Edgar, threw my towel into my brothers face before picking up my bag and jumping over the side and swimming back to the _Asphodel _not caring if the men were following me or not. I heard, rather then saw the _Vintage Dawn_ move away and creep closer to my boat, making sure to swing around to the other side in order to ensure that they would not crush me. I swam up to the anchor line and used it to pull myself onboard after throwing my bag on deck. Swinging over the bow I was finally back on deck and noticed that the two Americans were already there. Mumbling a few choice words under my breath I picked up my bag and rummaged around for the keys. Finally producing them I unlocked the door and ushered the two men through the tiny ready room and into the galley.

"My boat, my rules. Stay out of the wheelhouse." I said to them before pointing to one of the doors in the ready room. "Engine is that way, spare parts in the staterooms. I'm going to get changed so knock yourself out, and I mean that literally." I turned and walked towards the stairs that lead to the wheelhouse where my clothes were located leaving the men to go to the engine.

After changing I sat down in the captains chair wondering what the hell to do. I knew I couldn't afford to get a new part for the boat. I barely made enough to buy fuel and food. While I mainly fished to support myself it was hard trying to do everything yourself, I occasionally chartered my boat for the game fishing tournaments that happened throughout the year but that was pittance really. There just wasn't any fishing to be had, at least not for the _Asphodel. _The TAC (Total Allowable Catch) for the entire eastern Australian fleet had been reduced and the _Asphodel_ didn't stand a chance at securing any of the quota for the season. I couldn't even do tourist work, after all it was winter and the tourists were not going to come to the coast until late October to early November at the earliest. I was, in a word, fucked.

I remember sitting and pondering what to do when there was a knock at the wheelhouse stairs. I was pulled out of my thoughts by a certain blond man who had boarded my vessel. I gave him a small smile and allowed him up to the wheelhouse, he was a captain, I wasn't going to refuse him.

"How goes the 'repair'?" I asked him, after offering him a seat and a cup of coffee, to which he accepted both.

"It's a doozy of a repair you have to do. Ed's even having trouble fixing it." He said, accepting the cup of coffee I handed him. I rolled my eyes as I sat back down with my legs folded underneath me.

"I'm not surprised. That engine has given problems from day one. I just hope that he doesn't fuck with the systems though. Things are wired differently here then on any other boat." I said, looking over the deck and watching the _Vintage Dawn _floating nearby.

"I noticed. Where is your crew? Surely you don't run this boat by yourself?" Sig asked, I nodded and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How in the world do you do that?"

"I don't have a crew, after all no one in this town wanted to work for a female captain, that and my father has a lot of sway in this industry and basically word got out that he didn't want me fishing." I took a sip of the vile coffee I had made, I am not a coffee drinker and much prefer a good hot Milo (if you don't know what Milo is, it's kind of like chocolate). "While I was rebuilding the boat I rerouted the port-side controls to the deck and set up a station down there that I could drive from, right next to the hydros so I could still work on bringing in the line. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. Still is sometimes." I sighed.

"I heard about the industry crash, your brother told me. Sorry to hear about it." He said, we quietened when we heard a muffled curse coming from downstairs. "If it helps, I know what you are going through. In Alaska, Fish and Game have just got rid of what we call the Derby and introducing IFQ's. The same thing is happening there as whats happened here. In the last year of the Derby we had nearly 250 boats, now were are down to about 70 or so and that number is getting smaller every year."

"I've heard of the Derby style fishing before. My father's old man used to do it down here with his old man. Then they started doing a quota sort of system when my uncles started fishing back about twenty years ago. Not very structured, mind you, but it worked for a while. Now with all this bullshit that is going on… I don't know what to do."

"Stick and stay to make it pay." Said Sig, I laughed at the saying as it was something I would have said. I shook my head in amusement and sadness.

"Unfortunately I probably won't be able to do that. If the problem with the engine is what I suspect then I won't be able to do so. That engine is so old that I can't get many parts for it anymore. I'm going to need a new one and I can't afford that and I can't sell the boat, not in the condition it is in. No one is going to want to buy her." A heavy silence fell across the wheelhouse as we both drank our coffees, at least it was silent until the sounds of footsteps made their way towards the wheelhouse. Edgar had finished looking at the engine.

"Soooo, you are going to need a lot of money to fix that problem." He said as he made his way up the final steps. "You weren't kidding when you said that everything is set up weird. You got a couple of systems that don't make much sense to me but I'm not complaining." I rolled my eyes, I did warn him.

"Diagnosis doc?"

"As I said, you're gonna need a lot of money to fix the problem. You've not only knocked out the engine, but the hydros and the gen as well. With systems this old I'm surprised you don't have secondary systems to take over if something goes wrong or even just have new everything's." I glared at the man.

"Some people can't afford secondary systems Hansen. I don't have room for them either. Normally everything is working fine. This boat is older then I am, and she should have been retired and destroyed before I got her so it's no wonder the systems are failing. I can't keep up with maintenance costs anymore, not with the way our industry is going." I snapped at him. He raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Just saying it as I see it Princess. I'll call Norm and tell the others to get ready to tow you in." I was absolutely livid with this man, who was he to come on MY boat and start ordering me around. He was already reaching for his phone before I had a chance to say anything.

"Who is the captain here?" I spat at him. "It most certainly isn't you. How dare you come onto my boat and try to make the final decisions. You should know better since you work on a boat yourself." I jumped out of the chair and stormed over to him, practically screaming into his face, ramming my finger into his chest in between words. "Get. The. Fuck. Off. My. Boat. NOW!" Sig got out of his chair and tried to mediate between the two of us, before it became all out war.

"Edgar, go back down to the galley. Let me handle this. If you can, update the guys on the situation and I'll get back to you." Edgar nodded and exited the wheelhouse shooting one last glare at me. "Right, now that he is gone can you calm down a little?" he said, grabbing me on my shoulders and guiding me to the daybed/bench and forcing me to sit down.

"Calm down? I don't think I can calm down."

"Edgar is only being Edgar, and doing what he normally does. We work as a family on our boat, we help and support each other. He was only doing what he would do if this was our boat." Said Sig, pressing my coffee back into my hands. I glared down at the drink and if looks could kill the coffee would be dead, so would Edgar.

"But this isn't your boat. It's mine and the final decision is mine as well."

"I know that. Look at it this way, we tow you in to the harbour, you dock and get a look at your engine and see if you can get parts and what not, Edgar and I leave the boat and we never have to see each other again. You get back to dock quickly and you have more time to decide what you want to do, and we can get back to fishing. Sound good?" I looked up at him, trying to work out if he was being genuine or not. I can't remember what made me trust or believe him, but I guess somewhere I did because I found myself agreeing to the idea. Sig gave a half smile and headed towards the hatch.

"Good. EDGAR!" he yelled down to the galley. "Tell the others to tow." I shook my head. I thought to myself, 'This man is most definitely a captain.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note:** I'm glad that a few of you are enjoying the story. It's going to be a long one I think. For hades sake the first two chapters are 11,000 words! I'm laughing so hard at the moment at the two reviews, since I know what happens in regards to her relationships. Some people thinking she's going to end up with Sigurd and others thinking she'll end up with Edgar. So I'm going to ask, which man do you think she will catch in the end?

* * *

**Chapter Two**

I remember it took about two hours to get back to the harbour when the entrance was only a half hour away, and it was mainly because Edgar and I were fighting over the proper way to tow the boat. I had no steering since everything was down, so getting into the harbour was going to be hard due to the sandbar right at the entrance and the rock wall on the left, not to mention that docking was a problem as well. All the men had to jump ship onto the _Asphodel_ so they could throw the lines and pull the boat dockside. I had assumed that I wouldn't see them again after that day. They and my brother went out fishing for the rest of the day and I spent my time looking at the engine and calling places looking for cheap spare parts, unsuccessfully mind you.

I had become so frustrated with the circles I was doing looking for parts that I did something that I am not proud of. I had to go to my father and beg him for help with the boat. I've mentioned before that my father wanted nothing to do with me after I fixed the _Asphodel_ up a few years prior and now he was as insufferable as ever. He didn't want to talk to me but when I finally managed to at least get him talking to me it turned into an all out screaming war, just as I knew it would. He refused point blank to help me and after about an hour of screaming, in which I am sure the whole town could hear, he yelled out that the boat was supposed to sink and kill me. He didn't want a daughter who would fish her life away and that if the boat wasn't going to do the job then I'd better get the hell away from here before he did what the boat couldn't.

I was stunned. How could anyone say that to their child? Sure, I may not be considered family anymore but he was still my father and no one wants to hear from their father that they want them dead. I turned and left without a word to him and headed straight to the pub. I don't drink often, I abhor the stuff actually, but when I do drink it is only either under duress or I'd been dared. And I don't get dared often.

I was sitting at the bar, his words still going through my head, as I drank a screwdriver. I knew I couldn't stay here now, not with my father acting the way he was now. The only place I had to stay was the boat and I couldn't even sail her out of the harbour. I only had limited funds in my account and I was basically unemployed. What was I going to do? I had no clue, but for tonight I was going to drink it all away.

I didn't hear them come in, I was on the verge of a good buzz by then. I was playing pool at one of the tables in the back when I head that annoying American drawl of Edgar's. I don't remember much of this night, I got well and truly smashed at the pub after they came in. I didn't want to deal with them, but I remember that I somehow ended up talking to Sig. Don't ask me what we spoke about, I can't remember and what I do remember should not be repeated - Captain's honour.

I can't remember how I got back to the boat, I assume I had help because when I woke up the next morning there was some cold coffee in the pot waiting and I was severely hungover. I never saw who was there and I asked around the town the next day as to who took me back but no one knew. "One of the Americans" they said. Some of the locals say it was Sig, others Norm or Jake. The locals didn't know and to be honest they didn't care really. I know now, after having spoken with the guys about this incident a couple of months before my wedding that it was Edgar who took me back. How, I don't know, but I am thankful for it. He says it was his way of apologising for what happened that morning and all the fighting that had happened between us. Also I was (and still am) confused as to how none of the locals could tell the difference between the guys, although admittedly the locals were pretty smashed as well.

Still I didn't know what I was going to do. I pretty much had nothing now. I couldn't go fishing and I was about to be run out of town due to my father. I remember looking into TAFE courses (the local community colleges) and apprenticeships in the area to see if I could get a job or go to school somewhere but it was too late in the year to enroll, I'd have to wait at least six months before I could get in.

I was sitting in the wheelhouse around lunchtime when I heard a voice call out asking for permission to come aboard. Looking back I saw Sig standing on the docks. I allowed him to come onto the boat and met him in the galley, after quickly tying up my hair and making myself somewhat presentable.

"Mornin' Captain. Coffee?" I asked, heading over to the pot and the cabinet where I kept the medicines. He sat down at the table and nodded.

"Morning? It's early afternoon. You just get up?" he asked, noticing that I was still in yesterday's clothing. I had indeed only been awake for maybe a one hour at the most and had yet to hit the head to clean up, a killer of a headache pounded in my skull.

"Yeah I did. Big night last night. I don't normally drink like I did, but certain circumstances forced me to last night."

"So you told me." I looked at him confused. "You said so last night, you were well and truly drunk last night." I nodded, understanding what he meant. I am what people call a happy drunk. I talk… a lot. I probably spilled my whole life story to him last night and don't remember. "I told you I would come around today to talk about what you were going to do with the boat and your, um, situation." He looked down at the table sheepishly. I guess I told him more then what I would normally would. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm only going to say this once Captain. I'm sorry for whatever I said last night and if it made you uncomfortable. I don't remember much but from the way you are acting I'd say I may have spilled some beans that I probably shouldn't have."

"It's all right. It happens to all of us at some point." He said. "Best that I know whats going on now if your going to work with us in Alaska." I dropped the coffee cup I was holding and it shattered, spilling coffee all over the floor.

"Crazy American say what now?" I was in total shock. What the fuck did I agree too last night, or more then likely what the fuck did I manage to do that convinced this man that I could fish for him? Ignoring the broken mug I moved to the table and sat down in total disbelieve. "Say it again, slowly." Sig gave me a funny look and repeated his last sentence.

"I need something stronger then coffee I think." I mumbled, staring wide eyes at the captain. "Explain." Confusion crossed his face but he patiently explained what happened last night. (The following is by Sig, since I still cannot remember much of that night and it's been years now)

"We came into the bar after a less then stellar day fishing, by the way your brother knows next to nothing about fishing, and went to go and get a few drinks. Matt saw you playing the table up the back, we hadn't even noticed that you were there at first. Guess the way the place was set out was on it was on purpose. Anyway, Edgar decides that he wants to challenge you to pool, thinking that he could win, since it was obvious that you had been drinking and nearly at the point of being completely smashed. You slaughtered him by the way and you both ended up getting into a fight and Norm and I had to drag you away from Edgar before any blood was spilled." I must had looked at him oddly since he elaborated briefly.

"You were much easier to convince to come drink then Edgar, since he is sober now, but your also lighter and you probably wouldn't fight as hard as he would. Anyway, we sat down and had a few drinks at the bar. At first we were talking about the different types of fishing we did and comparing to see whose fishery was the best and then after about your third drink you just all of a sudden broke down and started crying. You said your dad wanted you dead and that you didn't have the money to go fishing or fix the boat. You kept saying how lucky we were that we are able to make the money we do and that you'd do just about anything to get your boat fixed, even face death in Alaska to do it. 'Better dead there then dead here' were your exact words. You kept talking and eventually I agreed that you could come work for us in Alaska for a couple of years so you could get the money to fix the engine on the _Asphodel _and that I would come by in the morning to help sort out what you needed. I'm a man of my word, and here I am." He explained.

I sat gob-smacked at the man in front of me. I didn't know him, I had told him pretty much my life story in a drunken ramble and he was offering me a job on the other side of the world? To this day I still don't believe that is the whole story, but I cannot prove otherwise. Sig is adamant that this was all that happened, that this was all the conversation included, but I have a strong suspicion that I had said something more to convince the captain to allow me to come to Alaska with them. What that was, I'm not sure and I probably will never know, Sig is good at keeping his secrets.

"You had better not be yanking my chain Captain if you know what is good for you." I said, finally coming out of my semi-coma.

"I'm not. I can tell you that the others aren't exactly pleased, especially Edgar but what is done is done. I've got the standard contracts on my laptop back at the hotel so we need to work on getting you a passport, working visa, insurance etc. Only catch is, you've got about two weeks to get that done. The guys and I fly back to the States on the 29th after the tour is finished."

"Two WEEKS?!" I spluttered, totally ignoring the fact that he said tour. "It takes six to get a passport! Not to mention a visa isn't going to be easy either." I had no idea how to even go about getting a passport or visa. I had no idea what I was getting into, especially since at the time I didn't know that he was kinda famous and was on a hit television show.

"I've already called the United States Embassy in Canberra and asked for them to fast-track your application when they receive it. I'll write up a letter explaining that I am your employer and that you are needed within two weeks in Seattle and that it is important that you get there by that date. They can put whatever restrictions upon your visa as necessary as long as they clear it with you and myself first in order to make sure that it is not going to interfere with the running of the boat." I felt as if I had just been slapped with a fish right across the face, it was all going way to fast.

"That's all well and good captain but really, hiring someone from the pub? Is that really the best of ideas?" he shrugged. As I said, he is good at keeping his secrets and no matter how hard I try I can't get anything out of him if he doesn't want anyone to know.

"Does it really matter? I'm sure you can handle yourself out there." (This is the statement that makes me believe I said something more that night, but I guess I shall never know.) Now that I had come out of my stupor I got back up and went back to the galley and started to clean up the mess from the shattered coffee cup.

"So how do I get a passport, oh mister know-it-all?" I asked picking up the shards and placed them in the bin before getting another glass and starting to make a new cup.

"Post office." He simply said. "At least that's what I am told. I've done a bit of snooping and managed to find out you can get a passport in a few days if you're willing to pay the extra fee." I frowned at that news. I wasn't exactly rolling in cash at the moment.

"Passports aren't exactly cheap Captain, doubt I will have enough to even get an airfare after paying fee's left, right and centre." I turned off the kettle and poured the hot water into the mugs, making sure that the coffee and milo were in the right glasses.

"That's why I'm paying for it. It'll come out of your first checks though when we start making money." I looked up at him as I put the kettle down.

"I can't ask you to do that Captain. I shouldn't have asked you to do any of this. " I grabbed both the drinks and headed back to the table, handing the coffee over to the captain and sitting opposite him.

"You didn't. I offered." He said. I blushed lightly and looked away, avoiding eye contact at his more then generous offer. "I said I am a man of my word and I am staying by it. Unless you want to stay here of course." My eyes widened at the suggestion.

"I can't stay here but I can't go with you. This whole situation is just too much for me to handle I think." I said shaking my head, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I didn't want any of this and wasn't that I wasn't grateful that he had offered me this position, I was more then grateful, it was just that I didn't (and still don't) take well to being a charity case. I've always worked for what I wanted, it was never handed to me, other then the one time when I got to boat.

"So what are you going to do?" he asked, after giving me a moment to think. "You going to stay here and be run out of town by a man who hates you or are you going to do something to show him what your really made of? Anyone who works on the water knows that one of the worst places in the world to work is the Bering Sea. You work there and he'd have to at least acknowledge you are a better fisherman then he is." He looked me dead in the eye and began to really push my buttons as only a captain can. "You going to show me what you are made of? Are you going to back out of a chance to show Edgar that you are just as good of a fisherman as you say you are? If you are going to back out then you are not the woman I thought you were." That did it.

"Get me the goddamn fucking paperwork. I'll show that little bastard who can fish."

* * *

I have no idea how it happened and how Sig was able to make it happen, but a little over a week later I was sitting at the United States Embassy in Canberra. I've only ever been to the city twice and they were both on school camps and under strict supervision. The day I accepted the position of greenhorn on the _Northwestern_ in Alaska my whole world almost literally turned upside down. In a matter of days I had a passport in hand, insurance papers signed and ready to go, my plane tickets were waiting on payment and my whole world was packed into a single duffle bag. Now I had the most important meeting of my life, the woman in front of me would decide if I could start over in America. So much for the Australian Dream.

Sig was sitting next to me in the office wearing what I now recognise as one of his favourite shirts, that blue jeans thing of his (it doesn't even deserve to be called a shirt). I hadn't seen him since the day after I agreed to work with him. At the time I had no idea what he was doing and I didn't have any reason to suspect that he would be on the Internet, and so didn't look up why he was actually in Australia. The others were out exploring the city, not that there was much to do in Canberra other then the normal touristy things, at least that's what I assumed they were doing, knowing them though they went out to the mountain dirt bike park or fishing. Who knows.

I was so nervous sitting in front of this woman. She didn't look at all friendly. Her hair was pulled back in a severely tight bun and her thin glasses rested on her pointed nose, which was upturned like it was permanently smelling some rotting fish. She was reading over my application for a working Visa, including Sig's letter, and so far she gave no indication as to if I was going to be successful or not and I was seriously beginning to stress over it. Finally after what seemed like a long time she began the interview.

"Miss Jansen. I would like to say that this type of situation in which you are requesting a visa is not common, however I must inform you that we receive many applications for this type of visa and many of the applicants are not entirely truthful with their intentions. How can I trust that you will not be doing anything nefarious or with ill-intent?" I was confused as I had no idea what she actually meant. Smuggling? Prostitution? I had no clue.

"You might want to explain what you mean by that to me ma'am, as I have no idea what you are insinuating." She gave me a hard look over the top of her glasses.

"Are you, or are you not wanting to go to America in order to get married or become implicated in illegal activities? Many women come through this office asking for either long-term working visas or permanent visas because they are just going to get married or go into unpleasant situations, on purpose or otherwise." I looked over a Sig, shock clear all over his face, and I am sure it was a mirror image of my face. I was a cross between angry and highly amused and I would have burst out laughing if the situation wasn't so serious. The woman was basically calling me a whore and that Sig was my pimp! That or my whole intention was to marry him and leave Australia. As part of my application I had stated that my parents had disowned me a few years back since I had a different last name to my birth name of Meyer and the reasons behind the name change. To this woman it probably looked like I was trying to run away from my family by marrying some random American that I met.

"No ma'am. I intend to work and just to work." I said. "I have absolutely no intention of going over there just to get married or become some whore just to escape my family. If I wanted to do that I would marry some low life thug that pimps out his girls on the corners of Kings Cross in Sydney." She gave a small frown, I suppose she was trying to catch me out in a lie.

"And the reasoning as to why you are applying for a visa with such a short notice when you intend to fly out of the country next week?" she asked. I really didn't like this woman, but I had to get her to pass my application if I was going to America. Sig answered this question, as I was still a little unsure as to what I was doing.

"Miss Jansen was only hired last week due to a recently vacated position upon my fishing vessel _Northwestern._ When I return to Seattle in less then a week I will be leaving almost immediately to go tendering and will not have the time to hire a capable employee." A part lie, since I know that Sig had mentioned before that the while none of the crew were happy to have me on board (except Jake since he would no longer be the bait-boy) they were willing to put up with me until my visa expired or they actually grew to like me, and I know that Edgar was wishing for the first.

"I have had several recommendation from her former Captain and crew as to her work ethic and skills, not to mention that she is also a captain herself. It was because of these recommendations that has convinced me to hire her regardless of her gender or what country she comes from. When I go tendering I will need to start training her to work on the _Northwestern_ on calmer seas before heading out into much more dangerous waters in mid fall where it will be much harder to do so."

The woman's face was passive as Sig explained anything. She had a damn good poker face, I couldn't pick up on a hint of anything, even if she wanted to sneeze. Although I have to admit I am a hopeless poker player. She looked back down at her papers and typed something into her computer, which I couldn't see. I started to tap my foot very lightly so it wouldn't make any noise which would indicate that I was impatiently waiting for a yes. Several long minutes passed in silence that was only broken by the tapping of keys. She looked back at me and it took all my strength not to visibly swallow in nervousness.

"I will approve your application for a five year visa with several conditions attached." She said. "These conditions will be handed to you in writing before you leave once they have all been agreed upon. These conditions are that you must to report any earnings to the Australian Embassy via phone or email once a month for at least the first year and then every three months for the remaining time you are in America. You will not be able to leave the country unless it is to come back to Australia. You may not get married upon American soil, to an American or otherwise." Here she shot a quick, sharp look at Sig and I had too blush. Apparently she didn't believe that I was just going over there to work. "After a period of five years your case will be reviewed and upon deliberation you may be granted the opportunity to become an American citizen."

While some of the conditions were not fair, in particular the marriage one, I signed the paperwork anyway. As I had said, I was not going over to the States to find love, I was going over there to work my ass off so I could fix my boat and get back to doing what I loved. Besides, if I did fall in love over there I'm sure there would be some way around the condition. I just wanted to get out of Australia and away from my family for a while so they can settle down and realise what they would be missing and that they would hopefully ask for my forgiveness. I'm still waiting for that to happen even after all these years.

Walking out of that office was one of the best things that has happened for me. It's opened up so many new doors and opportunities then I ever thought possible. I was so relieved but now a whole new level of nervousness reared its ugly head and now I had never been more terrified in my whole life, at least up until I started working on the Bering Sea. Nothing compares to the fear of working on that raging ocean. I can't remember if it was because I was going overseas to a whole new world where the only people I knew were pretty much complete strangers or if it was because I didn't know if I would ever come back home. Sure I planned too but anything could happen out there. One slip and it's all over.

Sig called the guys and told them that I was confirmed as the new Greenhorn. I could hear Edgar cursing and yelling in what I now know as Norwegian before Sig hung up the phone. We headed to the car and got in and made our way into the city to go and book my flight to should have taken months took less then two weeks, which shouldn't be possible, however I am more then thankful to Sig and the men (who I didn't know chipped in, under protest, until a few weeks ago!) for getting it done. After all these years it is still so surreal for me to be here, sitting in my own house over looking Ballard harbour where the _Northwestern _docks when in port, married and pregnant with my first child. When I look back at what was accomplished, I am blown away, after all, it's only been just over four years and I'm still under the restrictions of my visa.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

I hate planes. I really do. I like to keep my feet on the ground or on the deck. I'm a mermaid not a harpy! (well Edgar sometimes calls me the latter) The flight from Sydney to Seattle via Los Angeles wasn't too bad, but I didn't like it. It was a little cramped and full of people. I'm used to cramped, after all I lived on a boat, but people I'm not used too and even after these last couple of years with the meet and greets, Catchcon, charity work etc, I am still not used to large gatherings. I was even nervous at my own wedding, and it wasn't because of the normal wedding jitters either!

Back in Canberra a week before the flight, Sig and I managed to get all my tickets and paperwork sorted. I wasn't on the same flight at the crew, that flight had been booked out for a while, however I was only going to be a day behind them. I had no clue what I was getting into. I had little money and no where to stay other then on the boat and I was planning on buying all my gear over there since I only had only one duffle bag with me with only the essentials. Pj's, two jeans, a couple of shirts, socks, runners, a towel, my shower kit and my legal paperwork. Wearing jeans was probably not the best of ideas when I landed in America. I had forgotten that it was summer over in America while it was winter here in Australia. In Seattle it wasn't so bad wearing jeans, but in LA, oh man I swear I nearly died of heat stroke. Thank goodness I was only in the terminal for a short while, about four hours I think, before I was on the plane again (much to my displeasure) and before I knew it I was on land again and I swore that I never again jump on a plane. All up it was around a twenty hour trip to Seattle and I arrived only two hours after I left. I still get a laugh out that.

Norman was waiting for me in the terminal, I was just glad that someone was there waiting to be honest. I thought I was going to have to make my way to the docks on my own. It wasn't until later when I was on the boat and watching some DVD's that I realised why Norman was the one to pick me up and what I had managed to get myself into. It was insane that this was what I was going to be doing in order to fix my boat.

The car ride was quiet, I guess Norman still didn't know what to make of me. I asked him a few questions as to where things were, shops and the like, and to where I was staying. He answered all my questions patiently and elaborated little. Due to the fact that we would be setting off shortly for tendering I would be staying on the boat. He has opened up a lot more now after a few years, then again I am his sister-in-law now. He's not as quiet as you think is he, he just doesn't like those cameras or the attention that they bring, and honestly I don't blame him. If I had a choice, I would be with him off to the side, out of the camera's sight and out of microphone range, which is hard because we all wear mics, but being the only female on the DC fleet (and contrary to popular belief there ARE female crabbers on the Bering Sea) became one of the main themes for the season and I became an instant celebrity, much to my chagrin.

We drove through the gates into the docks and as we rounded a building I saw my new home for the first time. The _Northwestern_ stood out at the docks by the sheer brilliance of the white and blue paint job compared to some of the other boats. You could tell she had had been freshly painted since there was no rust on her. While she was not the biggest boat on the docks, she was one of the larger ones there. Norman stopped the car and we both got out. I was exhausted from the flight, since I didn't sleep because I was so nervous. I grabbed my bag and followed Norm onto the boat for the first time, remembering at the last moment to step right foot first onto the rail. We made our way into the galley were I was given a quick tour before shown to the two berth stateroom I shared with Edgar mostly, Nick and Norman would sometimes use the room as well. It was going to be easier to have me bunk in that stateroom cause I could duck into the dry storage room attached and change without worrying if the boys would 'peek'.

I don't know if you have seen the entire interior of the _Northwestern_, after all the show focus is mainly the wheelhouse and the deck with the occasional shot of the galley, ready room and engine room,but she is rather homey and larger then she appears. She's a six-berth, with two staterooms, not including Sig's room, as well as a single head (bathroom), again other then Sig's one. The galley was far larger then the one on the _Asphodel _and I knew that I would be spending a great deal of time in that kitchen.

I after a quick tour, Norman left me to go and do whatever he was doing and said that he and the others would be around in the morning to get ready to leave for tendering. I thanked him as he left then went and crashed after my twenty hour flight, without changing clothes, and slept like the dead until I was woken by the noise of six grown men moving around in the galley. Even though I had slept for more then fifteen hours I didn't want to get out of bed since I was still on Australian time and it was like one in the morning over there. The men were going to get a face full of a grumpy Duchess if they didn't shut up or at least had some cold milo ready for me.

I got out of the rack and shuffled my way into the galley, not bothering to brush my hair which I knew was all over the place. The men were scattered around the table with their cups of coffee in various states of emptiness, became silent as they took in their first look of a sleepy me. Edgar was the first to break the peace.

"Well, well. If it isn't Sleeping Beauty. How was your flight Princess? Looks like you had a rough night last night. Did ya boyfriend keep ya up?" I shot him a glare that would tame even the hardest of criminals, yet he didn't even seem phased by the look, just gave me a overly sunny grin, knowing it would piss me off.

"There had better be some Goddamn fucking milo ready or someone will be castrated for waking me up." I snapped as a greeting as I made my way into the galley proper and fumbled with the draws and cupboards looking for a mug, glass or anything.

"We don't have any of your Aussie food here. So nope, sorry no milo." Edgar chirped. I turned and gave him the evil eye before turning and looking for Sig, who luckily or unluckily was in the wheelhouse at the moment. If I couldn't have my goddamn cup of fucking milo I may as well have a cup of vile brew called coffee. Maybe the caffeine would wake me up.

"So who does the orders for groceries?" I asked as I made to grab for the coffee pot which had enough for one more coffee, Edgar, unfortunately, was closer and snatched the pot away from me, giving me a shit eating grin as he poured the last of the coffee into his mug. If looks would kill Edgar would be far below six feet under with all the glares I'd given him the last two minutes alone.

"I do." Matt spoke up. "Since I do most of the cooking when we have time, I do the shopping." I gave him a good hard look to see if he was lying. I could see no lie though and spoke directly to him.

"If you want a happy Duchess who doesn't want to murder a certain dickhead of a deckboss, and one who doesn't get seasick you had better get two things." I said, staring him down and made sure that he knew I was deadly serious. "You better get a fucking truckload of Vegemite and Milo." I growled before turning and storming back to the state room, grabbing my duffle bag and making my way to the head, slamming the door on the way.

I took a long shower in the head to try to wake up and center myself before dealing with dickboss again. I had dubbed Edgar this when he begins to annoy me so badly. I still call him this to his face as well, gets a good laugh, especially from the crew and other boats. I stepped out of the warm shower and dried myself off and dressed in my other set of jeans and a t-shirt. I quickly pulled my hair into a ponytail, and looked in the small mirror that hung over the sink and made sure I was okay to face the day. There were light smudges under my eyes, but that was to be expected after the last forty-eight hours I'd had.

I grabbed my stuff and went back to the stateroom, everyone had cleared out of the galley and were out on deck by now. I went out and almost ran straight into Junior as he was moving some packages towards the ready room and I assume towards the engine room since Edgar was shouting at Jake to get down there and back. I made my way over to Norman who seemed like the best choice at the time to talk to since he was on the docks passing the gear down. I avoided eye contact with Edgar though, I didn't want to start world war three while there were witnesses around.

"Hey Norman. Where can I go to get new clothes and some slickers?" he looked down over the package that he was handing to Matt to take down.

"Take Junior with you. He'll show you." He said before turning back to the truck and grabbing another box. "Take this to the wheelhouse and clear it with Sig first." He handed me the box, which wasn't too heavy and I made my way back to the house. I made my way back inside, avoiding hitting anything and anyone and managed to get up to the wheelhouse where Sig was looking over his paperwork for the trip. I placed the box on the floor by the staircase and waited by the box till Sig had finished looking over the page. That is one thing I hate when I'm busy - people interrupting me.

"Hey Captain?" Sig looked up and over his glasses at me.

"Morning Duchess. Have a good sleep?" I gave him a half-hearted glare, I wasn't going to have a bitch fight with the Captain. He could fire my ass, he still can actually and I'm surprised that he hasn't yet with all the fights that have happened between me and Edgar or me and him.

"Slept like a newborn until a herd of elephants made a racket in the galley." I said to him, coming and standing closer to him and standing at the other end of the table. "I was wondering if I could head into the city and get some gear? I asked Norman if I could and he said to check with you and to see if I can borrow Jake for the day. I'd need to go to the bank and exchange my money anyway. It'd be nice if I had a guide who could show me where to go." I could see the cogs in Sig's head turning, he knew I was right but sparing Jake for the day? "If I don't go with someone I'll end up getting lost in the city, with no way to contact the boat. I'm not a city girl. I've been to Canberra what twice, three times now and that is nowhere a city like this. This way I'm with someone who can contact you if were going to be late or if, god forbid, something were to happen to us." We both knocked three times on the wooden table. After a moment, Sig spoke.

"How much you got?" I was a little taken back with that question.

"Depends on the exchange rate. I had a little over two grand in my bank account back in Australia when I transfered it all to travellers checks two days ago." I shrugged my shoulders. That should be enough to get slickers, a couple more pairs of Op-shop clothes for fishing as well as some 'essentials' for the trip. At the time I didn't believe that I'd need half decent clothes, especially fancy dresses or frilly tops and skirts, now I know better. And that day was the day was the beginning of my wake up call to the world that I had stepped into. Sig pulled out his wallet from his pocket, picked out a wad of bills and threw them onto the table in front of me and put his wallet back.

"It comes out of your pay like everything else so keep the change." I stared at the cash not even daring to pick it up, shaking my head and keeping my hands behind my back, so I wasn't the least bit tempted. I've mentioned before I hate feeling like a charity case.

"Captain I can't. I already owe you and the boat too much." Sig gave me _that_ look over his glasses. You know the look that people give you that says 'do it or else.' Yeah, take that look and mix it with Sig's 'I'm the Captain and what I say goes' look and you can't refuse anything he tells you. I gingerly picked up the money and slipped it in my pocket. I had no plans on spending the money he gave me at all.

"Go and open a bank account so I have somewhere to transfer your money to when we get paid. Go shopping with Junior, get some lunch and be back on the boat before three and I'll be happy. I need the guys to start showing you the Norwegian way of things before we head out in a few days." He turned away and back to his paperwork effectively ending that conversation.

I made my way out of the wheelhouse and back outside, stopping briefly to grab my wallet and papers for a bank account. I found Jake hauling boxes of who (Edgar) only knows what and explained that he had to take me into the city to get my gear.

Now Jake, he's such a sweet man, who has had some bad things happen to him, especially over the last year or two. Yet he has been so strong through it all. Out of all the guys on the boat, other then Sig, he was the first to welcome me onto the boat and show me the ropes and bring me into the family. I love him, he's like my brother. We made our way into the city, the first stop being the bank, and he explained the workings of the _Northwestern_ and her crew. He explained that it would be his job to show me how the bait set up would work for when we go cod fishing before Kings and then the actual crabbing. He promised that when the time came he would show me how to sort the crab and how to recognise males and females. How to recognise the different moods of the crew, especially Edgar and Sig's mood and when would be a good time to confront either of them on any issue.

As we walked out of the bank an hour later, thats when things started to get weird for me. As I have said, at this stage I had no clue that these guys were somewhat famous. A small group of women made their way up to us and asked Jake for some autographs and photos. He took this all in stride as I stood to the side and watched with a keen eye as to what was happening, when the women finally left and Jake and I were on our way again I had asked what was going on.

"They were fans." He said so simply as if I knew what was going on.

"Fans?" I was honestly confused. "Fishing has fans here in America? You Yanks sure are a weird bunch." He gave me this weird look as if he was saying 'you don't know? I can't believe you don't know!'

"Sig didn't tell you?" he asked as we waited at a traffic light.

"Tell me what?" I asked. Jake had an incredulous look on his face before quickly returning back to a more normal frame of mind and moved on as the traffic pulled away.

"Every crab season, for both Kings and Opies, we have Discovery channel camera's and crew on the boats filming nearly everything we do. It's crazy cramped on there when it happens and half the time I swear they are trying to kill themselves trying to get footage, but they film us for a TV series called Deadliest Catch. We got the DVD's on board if you want to watch them and get an idea what you are getting into. Actually, it's probably best if you do watch them." He said, as he pulled into a parking space out front of a shopping centre.

"Film? TV? What the hell Jake?" I nearly screamed at the poor man. I was so mad at Sig for not telling me EXACTLY what I was getting into. "I'm soooo going to rip that man an new one for not telling me."

"Hey calm down, yeah? You do that and you go back to Australia as quick as lightning. Let's just get you some clothes and and gear first, yeah? I may be a guy but I have five sisters so I know a little about what looks good. Plus you'll need to be comfortable enough to work in them." I settled a little, not looking forward to the fact to the shopping. It's one of the things I truly detest in this world. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind shopping on occasion but only if it is for books or on occasion groceries, but mainly I love shopping for books, not clothes. I never followed the current fashion trends, I didn't need too, I just grabbed whatever I needed to work on the boat and there wasn't a lot of choice in a small town as to what to wear.

Jake and I spent a couple of hours mall trawling, Jake showing me what his sisters would normally wear, telling me what would be good for winter when it came, what to wear in Dutch when we got there, and what I would be best avoiding on a crab boat. He was surprisingly good at picking things that were well fitted, quality items at a bargain price and I walked out of the mall and back to the car with more clothes then what I would have bought if I were on my own, he somehow even managed to cajole me into buying a dress. If I didn't know any better I would have sworn he was gay or was secretly a girl pretending to be a guy, however he isn't gay and he is most definitely a guy - I can indeed confirm that one as well, it was quite accidental I assure you, my heart lies with my husband after all.

Jake took me to this amazing little bakery that made the most delicious pastry foods and cakes for lunch, in which I bought some cake for the crew as a sort of peace offering. Afterwards Jake finally took me to go and get my slickers and gear for the boat. It was nearing one thirty by the time we had finished getting the gear I needed. I still had some money left, not including the money that Sig gave me (that had been put away and still hasn't been touched after all these years) and I was beginning to plot pranks on the crew after Jake had let it slip earlier that there was always a prank war going on at any one time. I asked him to take me to BigW, not thinking that I was in America and that BigW doesn't exist here. When I explained what BigW was he took me to Walmart. They are similar in idea but so very different at the same time, if Jake wasn't there I would have become lost in the store!

I didn't tell him what I was planning, only that I had some money left and I wanted to go and buy some things like extra shampoo and conditioner etc and the shopping list was innocuous really. I did buy what I truly needed but I also bought things like peroxide ("I'm thinking of dying my hair, I am a girl after all and need a change."), some make up - black eyeliner in particular ("to go with the dress you made me buy!") and light sleeping pills ("you guys are like a herd of bloody elephants!") just to name a few of the items, some I would have to convince Matt to buy when the groceries were ordered.

As we walked out of the store Jake's phone rang. It was Sig asking us to get stuff to try and prank the Hillstrand Brothers with. Even though crab season was still a couple of months away Sig wanted to start early and get stuff in Seattle while we could. Since Jake had explained the prank war to me I'd been devising a prank which would be dangerous on my part, but would take months to prepare for. However it could work if done safely and properly and I'd need to run it by Sig first though, just to make sure it would be fine to do.

Eventually we made it back to the boat, on time so neither Sig nor Edgar could bitch at us for being late, and after dumping my new clothing on my rack I took the cake and pastries into the galley and placed them on plates. I called the guys in for food and explained it was my peace offering as they gave the food vulture-like looks, and that it wasn't poisoned (Edgar suspected it was since he knew that I had it out for him). Jake was the first to dig in since he was with me when we bought it just to satisfy their suspicious demeanors. Once all the food was eaten and not a complaint heard (even from Edgar) we all headed out on deck, except Sig, to continue rigging the gear for the up coming trip. Jake was a good teacher and I learnt a lot from him, even if Edgar did step in every now and then to offer his opinion. His interruptions were beginning to grate on my nerves and I couldn't wait till we left so the pranking would begin.

After the week had gone by I had been partly integrated into the crew and to their way of working the deck. I spent the nights on the _Northwestern _watching the Deadliest Catch DVD's as Jake had suggested, finally getting the full idea as to what I was to expect working in the cold and unforgiving waters of the Bering Sea. I was beyond nervous as to what I had now signed on to. Sometimes Jake and Nick would join me in watching the shows and on occasion Sig would sometimes come down and stay after a long period in the wheelhouse doing paperwork for the upcoming trips we were to do. Edgar however never stayed. He and Matt would go off and do their own thing. It was clear that Edgar had a serious dislike of me being on the boat for one reason or another and I was at the point of not caring if he wanted me there or not. It wasn't his choice so he had to suck it up.

I ran my idea for the _Time Bandit _prank past Sig not long after Edgar left on the first night. Sig was obviously very wary of the proposed idea since it had so many factors that could go wrong and I would be subjected to the freezing waters of Dutch Harbor for an unknown amount of time before I would be 'rescued' however he approved of the general concept and so I set to work on finding the best material for fashioning "waterproof" clothing. This was not as easy as it sounds. The best material for submersion in Dutch Harbor was neoprene, the same material as the survival suits, but it was not cheap and I couldn't use one of the survival suits either, they cost a lot of money and Sig would have killed me if I even tried to cut up one of those.

Trying to get enough 'material' to make 'clothing' out of let alone trying to stitch and glue it together was not easy to do, however I managed to find enough neoprene at a rubber store to make the base body suit with. There would be another layer over the top of this to ensure that the prank would be convincing and by the time we left for Dutch. The main body suit prototype had been glued and stitched while the rest, the top layer would have to wait until we got back to port. Unlike a normal survival suit, which can be loose and one size fits most only, mine was form fitted for a very tight fit. I made about three different suits before I came up with the final concept design and spent some of the time while we were on down time during tendering.

* * *

Tendering is about as exciting as it sounds. Sig, Norm, Edgar, Jake and I went up to Bristol Bay and spent most of the time up there supplying the smaller boats with fuel and food in exchange for their catch. It wasn't that hard of work, at least compared to crab fishing, it's just a different kind of work. It was easy to see that the guys were more relaxed then when crabbing. Normally Sig isn't on the tendering trips and Edgar is in command but on this tip Sig decided to come as an observer, to ensure that I became familiar with the boat and that Edgar and I didn't start world war three. Although the latter was practically impossible as it was only a matter of a couple of days before war was declared with minor pranks and many arguments in which I am sure Sig probably lost a little more of his hair. The rest of the crew were not immune to the the prank war or my temper, especially Sig. He and I would butt heads all the time, that is when I was not fighting with Edgar about something or other.

Unlike crab fishing, there is more time to have a shower while tendering and after Edgar had tampered with some of my gear by drilling holes in the bottom of my boots I decided that a little payback was in order. Since Edgar's hair is a bit darker then his brothers' and didn't look like a Norseman, I decided it would be best for him to lighten his hair colour. It would take a while, near a month for this prank to be completed but it would be worth it.

Before we left I asked Matt to order lots of lemon juice as I explained that I loved lemon juice on my fish (which is true, just not to the amounts that I had ordered). One night I snuck into the bathroom and tampered with Edgar's shampoo and conditioner as well as his back up set. In one set I laced the hair care products with the peroxide, knowing that the smell would immediately tip off Edgar to the fact that they had been tampered with. I also messed with his backup set as well by adding the lemon juice that I had asked Matt to buy. My grandmother in the old days used to use lemon juice to lighten her hair and I adapted this tip for the prank. Every night before I went to bed I would also spray lemon juice on his head, I think he knew something was up but I sprayed the bottle around the stateroom and just explained off as the room smelled like dirty socks. By the end of the tendering trip Edgar's hair was a few shades lighter.

While this was going on I was also working on several other pranks. I tended to shy away from food that had been cooked by Edgar after one of the meals had been spiked with sweet and sour sauce, in which I am allergic too, and spent pretty much all night and the majority of the next day laying on my rack throwing up in a bucket. I had told Sig and Matt that I couldn't have sweet and sour food one day when we were in Seattle and we all went out for dinner before tendering and they noticed that I wasn't touching the pork dish. Edgar obviously remembered this fact and attempted to get me to have some. Needless to say it backfired on him since Sig went captain on Edgar's ass and forced him to be the chuck bucket carrier while I was recovering.

In revenge for that though I tampered with the vile drink. More then once Edgar drank a cup that was actually hot water. It was fairly easy to do as well. I'd make the guys a cup of coffee and instead of giving Edgar coffee his would be filled with water that was laced with red, yellow and blue food colouring that was combined to look like coffee. Edgar didn't accept coffee from me for a long time after that, and even now he is wary when I give him one and I've been pissed off at him.

The weeks passed like this with Edgar and I pranking each other day after day and the pranks got bigger and bigger until finally one day I snapped and effectively ended the summer prank war with a stalemate. On the second last day of the tendering, Edgar had started the day's pranking by tampering with the shower by adding Kool-aid powder behind the filter and throughout the day continued with pranks that were more annoying the humiliating (occasionally there was fire involved) however he chose a bad day to prank me as I had just started my monthly cycle and was extremely irritable that day. Other then the _Time Bandit _prank I believe this was by far the best prank I had completed. I still get a kick out of it when I think about the prank.

That night I slipped Edgar one of the sleeping pills I had bought back in Walmart when I first came to America and when I was sure he was knocked out good, even after several hours of having the drug in his system. During the night I silently grabbed all his underwear and sewed them all together in a line, one after the other, after the other so that when he went to grab one, all of them would come with it. It was a half hour before the crew was scheduled to wake and I was waiting for them to wake up and see the show, Nick was on watch and I had sworn him to secrecy and to not look at the deck cam till I told him too. I woke Jake up early though as I had enlisted Junior to help me move Edgar to the deck. I felt bad that I needed Junior in this prank but the the deckboss deserved it and Jake I believe needed to join in the 'festivities.'

I stripped Edgar down to his underwear and placed all his clothes aside. I must admit I had a good hard, long look at his body while he was asleep and was interrupted by Jake coughing politely. After fishing through my pocket, I handed something over to Jake and told him to finish stripping him and place change him into what I had just handed him while I ducked inside and grabbed some line, tape and a camera. I dashed off deck with Edgar's clothes and got the necessary equipment and when I came back out Jake was standing with his back turned to Edgar, face as red as as a tomato, he was blushing so hard. I gave a sympathetic pat on the poor mans shoulder, no man should have done what he did. For there laying on the deck was Edgar wearing nothing but one of my lacy pink thongs that I had yet to wear (bought by accident at the time).

I had Jake start up the crane and I knelt down and hogtied Edgar making sure that I paid particular attention around the wrists bonds which were connected to a line that wrapped under his arms and around his chest to secure his wrists and arms together behind his back, like a reverse strightjaket. I had to make sure that he was secure for part two of the prank as I didn't want to seriously hurt him if he slipped from the ties and crashed to the deck from the crane. I looked over at the sunrise and noticed that more time then I had thought had gone by and that the crew would be up any minute. I watched carefully as Jake started up the crane and began to swing it around to us, until that is I heard a groan from our lovely evil deckboss. Swearing and thinking quickly I did the only thing that I could think of that would hold the deckboss down, I straddled him, putting my full weight on the bound deckboss and shot a look at Jake telling him to hurry up. Finally the crane was lowered and I could reach for the hook attached, I looped the line that was tied to Edgar as fast as I could and secured it to the crane making sure that there was no way that the line was going to slip and cause the man to fall into the deck.

I quickly scrambled off the deckboss and switched with Junior at the controls. I wasn't as familiar with these controls as on the _Asphodel_ but I knew I could hold my own. This was the tricky part, raising Edgar up without waking him or causing any damage to his body. I eased the controls gently and was able to lift him up so he was sitting while Junior was helping to guide the deckboss into position. I could see that Edgar was starting to come too now so it was now or never. I raised the crane and subsequently Edgar who was immediately awoken with the sudden movement and lifted him as smoothly as possible above the deck and over the rail so he was hanging by his wrist, which were securely bound to his body behind his back, over the waters of Bristol Bay in nothing but a pair of women's lacy pink underwear.

I signalled to Junior to go and get the others up so that they could see the spectacle as I began to take photos of the cursing and screaming deckboss strung up like a marlin on display at a fishing tournament. Sig, Norm, Nick and Jake were quickly on deck, still half asleep but appearing battle ready. I assume that Jake used the excuse that there was something wrong on the deck and that all hands were needed, however the sight of the deckboss throughly out-pranked in this summer of warfare had them waking up quickly and falling down to the deck laughing their heads off. I had been counting the minutes that Edgar had been strung up and on display, I didn't want him to begin any form of asphyxiation or damage his back or arms. So after two minutes had passed I quickly bought Edgar back over the deck and had Junior secure him and begin untying him as I shut down the crane.

I remember Edgar gave me the biggest, most dirtiest glare I'd ever seen as he stalked past back into the house to grab his clothes, arse cheeks on display due to the thong, and his brother's, Nick and my laughter following him the whole way. Jake was a little more subdued, I guess he really didn't want to prank his deckboss. Junior admits now that when he looks back on the day it's as funny as all hell and that he was glad that he had a hand in the prank. He was just worried that he would be found out and lose the respect that he had earned from Edgar.

I heard cursing in both Norwegian and English when he realised that his undies had been sewn together and I just fell over laughing. It didn't take long before I realised that he would be on the war path and out for my blood, so I did what any girl would do. I ran and hid behind his older more evil brother and captain, Sig, for protection. After everything I knew he wouldn't really hurt me. He'd be out for my blood, yes. Try to get me back, more then bloody likely but he would never, ever, hurt me physically.

I still have those photos, by the way, and I use them for blackmail on occasion.

* * *

That trip was one of the best trips I've been on when we were tendering. When the crew returned to their places for a quick visit to family and friends when we returned to Seattle at the end of August while I remained on the boat and continued to work on my _Time Bandit _prank. I ducked into a fabric shop with the help of Google and Nick's wife and I managed to secure the last of material I needed to make the 'clothes' ready. I also ducked into a costume store for a couple of wigs and another costume for a prank that I planned to play on Edgar during King season.

I spent the last few weeks in Seattle, when not on the boat doing the touristy thing. Sometimes Jake would join me and show me some of the better places to visit. We had a good time and became closer as friends. While tendering Norman had opened up a little, and Matt and Nick had become a lot more friendly as well, especially after the last prank. They figured that if they were on my good side I wouldn't do anything on that scale to them. And since Sig was not in the captain's chair this season, Sig and I when not fighting or yelling at each other, would have some very interesting conversations which then led to the yelling and fighting. However, unlike his youngest brother and I, our fights would blow over and no one was caught in any crossfire. However the pranks still happened between us.

A couple of times while we were in town we would all go out for dinner, that was if Edgar and I promised to be on our best behaviour. We were not allowed to sit next to or opposite each other just like naughty children so that we would not instigate any fighting. Eventually though a truce was called up by Sig and the crew after they had gotten sick of all the shit that we were doing. We even had to sign a contract stating that we were not allowed to prank each other for a year!

Eventually though it was time to head up to Dutch Harbor and begin catching cod and where I would finally begin to learn how to use the pot set up and start to get used to working in the Bering Sea. It was a very steep learning curve I tell you and I had so many bruises from climbing in and out of the pots with the bait set ups I swear that my bruises had bruises and that I was going to be black and blue forever. And it wasn't even Crab season yet and the weather was still nice. After that crash course in the pot system we finally made it to for the last time before Crab Season. However, in order for the _Time Bandit _prank to work, I could not be seen before hand and therefore was confined to the house and to not go into the wheel house or on deck without my slickers on and a hoodie hiding my hair. Those were the worst days of my life, not being able to leave, but dear god was it worth it when the prank was completed.


	4. Chapter 4

I just want to reiterate that I don't own anything other then the fictional characters in this story. I also do not own the "song" that is in this chapter - that belongs to JRR Tolkien and Peter Jackson et co.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

I hated being remanded to the house on the _Northwestern _while we were in Dutch Harbor_. _Every time I wanted to go out on deck I couldn't unless I was completely covered from head to toe and at least one of the other crew members had to be with me at all times. I wasn't allowed on shore either and I was getting sick of it to be honest. We had docked near the _F/V Wizard _and_ F/V Cornelia Marie _as we loaded our gear onto the deck. The _F/V Time Bandit_ had yet to arrive in Dutch from Homer, Alaska, since she was still undergoing a bit of maintenance but that gave me valuable time to get the last of my prank ready. I had made the final adjustments to the semi-survival suit that I had created while we were tendering. It was very elaborate for any suit really and I'd need help getting in and out of it since it was very form fitting.

After two days of being in Dutch Sig got the word that the _Time Bandit_ was in radio receiving range and that phase one of the prank could begin. Just before nightfall while the most men were still on the boats getting their gear ready I made my way up to the wheelhouse where Sig was waiting, he had his charts out and was looking over all the past fishing that he had done and was finalising where we would go.

"Evening Captain. How's your day been?" I enquired even though I knew what his day was like. He'd spent the majority of it up here while the Discovery crew had begun rigging the boat with the camera's, talking to the producers about how the season would be filmed and more then likely my name came up once or twice. I would have to have a sit down with the producer that was staying on the boat with us as to what would be happening TV wise and what to expect being the first female greenhorn on the DC fleet in the coming days and I was not looking forward to it at all.

Sig looked up and nodded at me in greeting before indicating to head to the captain's chair and to take a seat while he packed up. I waited patiently in the seat and looked out at the other boats in the harbor. It is such a beautiful sight to see all the boats safely in the harbor, made all the more precious now because we nearly all know each other and know that if the boat is there then the crew is safe.

"You ready?" Sig asked standing behind me. I nodded before pulling out a piece of paper which outlined the full plan to which we were to follow and handed it over to Sig.

"I couldn't come up with anything that was not easily recognisable. It's been a while since I spoke any language other then English and while I was made to study many languages as a child, I found the words of Tolkien's elvish to be the most unrecognisable as a language and the most beautiful. Hopefully it should get them into a state of paranoia before the arrive. I need to know when they come within sight of Dutch as per the outline you have there." I said while Sig was looking over it. Sig turned off the wheelhouse lights after looking over the plan and handing me a microphone.

Sig pulled in a favor this year with Discovery channel. He'd asked the crew to install mini speakers all over the _Time Bandit _so that this prank would work. I don't know why the Discovery guys agreed, maybe it was because they knew that they were going to be behind schedule in rigging the boats that year due to some equipment not arriving on time to the headquarters and had done the _Time Bandit_ in Homer or because Sig had let them in on the plan before we arrived so that they could film it and the guys reactions, I don't know but I am thankful for it.

The first part of the prank was to try and convince the guys that there was something following them on the way to Dutch and that when they radioed the others no one could say that they heard anything and that it was just on their boat. I couldn't use the radio since that would give away what we were doing if they tried to radio the _Northwestern_ since they wouldn't be able to get through to us due to the fact that we were radioing them. Hence why we had bugged the boat with speakers.

I prepared myself to sing to the _Time Bandit. _I would be the first time in years that I would sing for an audience, even if it were over a long distance and I couldn't hear or see their reactions. I was to pretend that I was to be a siren, a mythical creature that was said to lure sailors to their deaths by crashing their ships upon the rocks.

I turned on the microphone and began to sing, trying to be as ethereal as possible and I hoped to Hades that they wouldn't understand what I was saying to them at all. Sig was silent, as per the agreement, while the words wove a spell around the wheelhouse, and they slipped though the hatch and down into the galley as well where all sound had ceased as soon as I came upstairs. I made sure to vary how loud they could hear the singing as it was to sound like it was one moment near the ship and then was slowly fading away.

"I ngîl cennin erthiel ne menel aduial,  
Ha glingant be vîr síliel moe.  
I ngîl cennin firiel ne menel aduial,  
And-dúr naun i fuin a galad firn naegriel moe.  
An i natha, an i naun ului  
A chuil, ann-cuiannenm am meleth, perónen."

As the last note died on my lips I immediately shut off the microphone, closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I was able to look at Sig. He stood there with a small amount of shock on his face. I guess I had stunned the captain into silence. All was silent on the boat not even the humming of the engine could be heard before finally he spoke.

"If I didn't know that was you singing and that all of a sudden could be heard on my boat I'd be wondering what the heck was going on. What did it mean anyway? Do you know?" I blushed lightly at the veiled compliment.

"It's from _Lord of the Rings._ The translation is: 'I saw a star rise high in the evening sky, it hung like a jewel, softly shining. I saw a star fade in the evening sky, the dark was too deep and so light died, softly pining. For what might have been, for what never was. For a life, long lived, for a love half given.' As I said I couldn't find anything else that could compare to the beauty of the words that could sound so ethereal and was unrecognisable as a language. I'll have to come back up later and sing again, to freak them out even more. I imagine that they are wondering what that was and probably dismissing it as nothing. Can you tell me how far away they are?" Sig came over and turned on all the equipment again so that he could find them.

"Last I saw they were about two days out and expecting to arrive at around 10am. Depends on the weather though, which looks like it will hold for now so they should get here on time." I thanked Sig and hopped out of his chair and began to make my way down to the galley where I was going to make a start on dinner, since I wasn't allowed on shore yet. When I arrived the crew were all gathered and whispering among themselves and I assume that while I was serenading away upstairs they were as well. I headed over to the galley proper and began to take out some pots and pans to begin with before I was interrupted.

"Was that really you singing up there before? 'Cause that didn't sound like you." Asked Jake. I looked over the half wall and nodded in the affirmative as I made my way around the galley gathering ingredients for a beef stew.

"I've been singing since I was eight years old Jakers. I can also play the piano. It's been awhile since I last sang for someone other then myself though, back in high school I think it was." I said while chopping up the meat that I had left out to defrost during the day.

"I don't believe it. You sing? Ha!" said Edgar. He was in bad mood since this earlier this afternoon when several of the pots had needed to be renetted since there were some rather large holes in them and it took more time then we had to spare, not to mention that the film crews were swarming the deck as well. I swear sometimes that Edgar is a woman with his mood swings and all.

"You better believe it was her. You can see for yourself next time when she goes up." Said Sig as he made his way down from the wheelhouse and grabbed a cup of coffee before sitting with the others. "If I wasn't watching her and in on the plan then I would be freaking out a little wondering where the sound was coming from."

"You can all come up after dinner when I go up again and see for yourselves if you like, as long as you promise to stay silent." I said turning to the stove and started to cook as the men continued their conversations without me, mostly it was about the American football which I had no clue about and really didn't want to get to know. I hardly even followed any of the Australian football codes - we have four of them. I had tuned them out anyway, letting myself be absorbed in the methodical process of cooking, slipping away into my own world.

"You got enough there for us?" Edgar asked suddenly breaking my cooking trance and calling my attention to him. I looked down at the meal I was currently stirring, trying to determine if I did indeed have enough food for all of them.

"If you all have a small plate then yes I might just have enough. If you're hungry and ask nicely I might make you some other foods as well. I had intended for this to feed me for a couple of days or so. Maybe even freeze it down for when we are crabbing and just zap it warm." I said not even turning to face the guys, reaching over and adding the potatoes and carrots I had diced up earlier and mixed it through.

"What are you making?" asked Jake, he's always one of the more polite men, even on deck. "It smells good." I smiled but they couldn't see it since I was facing away from them.

"Beef and Winter Veg Casserole. Something my nan taught me to make. I've changed it a bit since I don't like turnips and such but it still tastes good."

"If it tastes as good as it smells, can I be your official taste tester?" he asked.

"If you want to get food poisoning then go ahead junior." Cut in Edgar. His mood today was really starting to grate on my nerves. If he was going to be like this the whole trip then I was going to loose my mind if I couldn't find any relief and since I wasn't allowed to prank Edgar other methods would have to be resorted too. I slammed down the wooden spoon I was holding and turned and faced Edgar glaring daggers at the man, hands on hips just like my mother used to do. The men immediately went silent knowing that the shit was going to hit the fan if they said anything.

"Cut the goddamn fucking attitude or I _will_ poison your meal. I've had it up to here with all your bullshit today and I'm not the only one who has had enough. I'm just the only one who will say it to your face." Not a word was said as Edgar stood and walked slowly, almost dangerously, into the galley.

"Say it again."

"What? You didn't hear it the first time?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "Cut. The. God. Damn. Fucking. Attitude." I glared right at him, not moving an inch as he moved closer and came to a stop just inches from my face.

"You are not my mother." He ground out slowly, tinted with more then a little anger.

"I don't care if I am your mother or not. You get your attitude in check or I will spank you with the wooden spoon." Over his shoulder I could see the guys looking like they didn't know if they should step in and restrain the pair of us, or if they should laugh their heads off at the thought of Edgar getting spanked with the wooden spoon. Sig and Norm in particular were looking the closest to laughing their heads off, I'm guessing they had the wooden spoon when they were younger and the idea was bringing back memories for them.

"You wouldn't dare." He moved in closer, our noses were practically touching.

"Try me." We glared at each other for what seemed like forever before I remembered that the stew was cooking and was going to burn. I began to turn to get back to cooking when it happened and it all happened so quickly and on pure instinct that I am honestly surprised I didn't get fired on the spot.

He grabbed my upper arm as I was turning and tried to force me to face him again. As I said what happened next was instinct.

I slapped him. Hard.

It was almost as if the scene came out of one of those romantic drama movies. Except that instead of heavy panting and lots of glaring leading to a heated make out session, the sound triggered the men to move and separate us. Sig and Norm restraining Edgar just in case while Jake stood in front of me, unsure as to if he should place his hands on me for risk of getting slapped himself.

The silence that filled the galley was almost deafening. I glared daggers at Edgar over Jake's shoulder.

"Touch me again without permission and it will be worse then a slap next time." I said coldly, so coldly in fact that you could practically hear the ice on my breath. Before moving past Jake and to the freezer to get some more meat for dinner and to calm down a little before facing the crew. As I was coming back out of the cold room I noticed that Norm, Matt and Edgar were no where to be seen and that the door to the stateroom that he and I shared was closed. Which also meant that I wouldn't be able to go to the dry storage either. Bugger. I carried the meat to the galley and threw it in the microwave to defrost a little before chopping it up into chucks rather more violently then I normally would, imagining that it was Edgar's head.

"He wouldn't have hit you." Came Sig voice through the angry static in my head. I didn't even bother to look over my shoulder as I answered.

"You don't know that." I sighed as I continued chopping less violently. "Jake can you go and get me some potatoes, peas, corn, carrot and the mixed herbs from the dry storage please?" I heard as Jake got up and entered the stateroom leaving me alone with Sig and Nick.

"We were raised to not hit women. He wouldn't have hit you." I laid my knife down, turned and lent against the bench, wiping my hands on a nearby tea towel.

"It only takes once Sigurd." I replied, dejectedly. "It's happened to me before and it may happen to me again, I don't know. What I do know is that it will definitely happen to another woman. No matter what, no matter how hard we believe it isn't true, it _will _happen and not every woman stands up for herself like I do. I know you believe that he wouldn't hit me, hell, I know he wouldn't hit me even after all the shit we have pulled on each other, but there may just be one time, just once, where it all goes too far." I went to the stove and stirred the stew, making sure it didn't burn. While I was waiting for Jake to come back with the food I made the men a cup of coffee. The galley was silent and the air was tense still with the aftermath of what happened. I placed the coffee on the table and looked directly at Sig.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

* * *

Dinner that evening was a tense affair. I didn't join the guys for dinner knowing that my presence on the boat had changed the dynamic and to be honest I didn't want to face Edgar. I knew that what I did was wrong and it shouldn't have happened but what is done is done. I cannot take it back. When things had calmed down later that evening I did go and apologise to him and I had hoped that he would apologise as well. Which never happened that night. He did say sorry the next day though, even if it was late. It was the thought that mattered.

Since I wouldn't go into my stateroom while he was in there I found myself without a bed. The guys had all offered to switch with me for the night but I didn't want them to leave their own beds for me. So I slept up in the wheelhouse on the tiny (and I mean fetal position tiny) bench up there with nothing more then a _Northwestern_ blanket. I was so stiff and sore when I woke that I probably would have felt better sleeping on the floor. Which reminds me, I have yet to get back at Edgar for making me sleep on that tiny bench in the wheelhouse.

Sleeping in the wheelhouse also gave me a good chance to work on my _Time Bandit_ prank. Several times throughout the night I turned the microphone on did what I had to do to try and get the _Bandit_ guys on edge. Early that morning, around seven am, the radio crackled to life only moments after I had turned the mic off. I froze as a voice came over the radio (who I now know was Johnathan).

"_Northwestern_ this is _Time Bandit_. You there Sig?" I couldn't answer the radio if I did then they would know what was going on. I raced out of the wheelhouse and down to the galley, hoping someone was awake. And wouldn't you know my luck no one was awake yet. We'd been up most of the night after the fight prepping gear anyway. I felt bad about going to wake anyone up, especially the captain, but I headed back up the staircase and stopped at the landing in front of Sig's door. Knocking gently, I heard the radio crackle to life again back in the wheelhouse.

"Captain?" I knocked again, waiting for an answer, I received none. Sighing I tested the door handle and found it unlocked. I opened the door and quietly slipped into the room. Being the captain obviously had its perks. Having your own room and head is one of the best things about being captain and it is one of the things I miss about the _Asphodel. _Sharing with five other guys (who are not the cleanest of people, but then again I'm only marginally better then them when it comes hygiene during fishing time) you are bound to have someone walk in on you and it has happened more then a few times while I've been on the boat. To me and by me. I'm not going to mention who has walked in on me though so don't ask and sometimes I swear they do it on purpose. I know I do.

The room was dark, since the sun had yet to rise and wouldn't for another few hours, Sig had his curtain closed as well. I could just make out the outlines of the different shapes in the room, but still managed to hit them as I made my way towards Sig. I knelt on the lower bed/bench/mattress (since the lower bed is not directly under it but like a step) so I could reach Sig and wake him up. He is surprisingly a heavy sleeper when he wants to be, but I was fortunate enough that he was easy to wake today. I felt bad that I had to wake him, after all sleep was a precious thing on a fishing vessel, however the radio couldn't wait forever so I gave him a gentle shake to try and wake him up.

"What is it?" he said sleepily, shifting around to sit up in the bed.

"Sorry to wake you captain but the _Time Bandit_ is on the radio asking for you." Even in the dark I knew that he had tensed up. It took him a moment to realise who was in his room before gathering his wits about him.

"You didn't answer it did you?" I shook my head, forgetting that it was dark and he couldn't see.

"No. I'm not that stupid. I went to see if the others were up yet but they weren't. Whoever it is, they are specifically calling you though. Hurry." I moved into the corner of the bottom bed so Sig would have room to get down and head to the wheelhouse. As he tried to step out of his sheets and down onto the bottom rack he foot got caught. Naturally Sig fell off the top bed and naturally he goes to grab the closest object to try and stabilise himself, which just happened to be me. Unfortunately for the both of us I was not prepared to be grabbed at all and went tumbling with him, crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs and sheets. I gave a small yelp as my forehead slammed into the floor right by Sig's head and gave a groan at the throbbing coming from my head.

"You okay?" Sig asked, slightly out of breath, I'm guessing he was winded from the fall and having me land on top of him. I nodded gently, groaning at the movement before becoming still.

"Whacked my head on the floor." I mumbled.

"Let me look." He said, gently forcing me to sit up, straddling him. His hands stroked my face feeling for any any cuts since there was no light and we could barely see each other. His ministrations lulled the pounding in my head and caused goosebumps to break upon my arms. He tentatively felt my forehead, where a small lump was beginning to form. A small hiss of pain slipped out of my mouth as he passed over the injury.

"Sorry. You got a small lump forming there. Get some ice and head up to the wheelhouse, I'll check it in the light when I'm finished with the radio. We don't want a concussion." He said gently, his thumbs gently brushing my face as he held it.

"Thanks Sigurd. Just give me a moment before I move please." I mumbled. Not making any move to get up off him, I was comfortable and moving hurt. I buried my head in his shoulder, waiting for the pain to go down to a more bearable level. After a few moments the headache went away slightly and I was able to move and allow Sig to get up.

As he made his way out of the room I mentioned getting coffee while I got the ice for my head. I slowly got up off the floor, slowly walked out of the room and went down through the bottom hatch and into the galley to make the coffee for Sig and get the ice pack. I also decided that toast wasn't going to go astray either. The others could wait for their breakfast. After a few minutes the toast and coffee were done and I made my way silently up to the wheelhouse where Sig was talking to Johnathan over the radio.

"I have no clue what you are talking about John. I haven't heard anything here. You talked to Phil yet? That old dog's been here longer then us he may know something." I placed the coffee and toast on the dash without saying anything. Another voice crackled in over the radio that didn't belong to John.

"Of course I know more then the pair of you. What's up John, how far are you away?"

"Mornin' Phil. We're about a day out if the weather holds. How you doin'? Boys ready yet?" I went and sat in the co-captain's chair, holding the ice pack to the bump on my head and waited, listening and hoping that they haven't figured anything out.

"I'm fine. Ding and Dong are never ready. I swear I'm going to kill them one day. They try though which is the main thing. What's up with you? You don't normally call till your here."

"Yeah. I wouldn't normally bother but somethings goin' on here. We're hearing things over here." Sig looked over at me and raised his coffee cup. Looks like the speakers were working.

"What are you hearing? Something wrong with the boat?" asked Phil. Sig was sitting back listening, a small smug smile on his face, drinking his coffee. I had to admit was as a little gleeful that the plan seemed to be working so far.

"Nah, nothing like that." Answered John, the uneasiness in his voice and slight agitation were clear over the radio waves.

"What's goin' on John?" there was a long pause over the radio before John called back. I'm going to assume he was talking to his brother Andy on whether or not to actually say what he said next.

"You believe in sirens?"

"Sirens? As in mermaids? You should know better then to believe in those things." admonished Phil.

"Yeah well, explain the singing we've been hearing on our way over last night." Sig lit up a cigarette and continued to listen.

"One of your guys playing music or video games."

"All the guys were out like lights last night, catching up on their beauty sleep after the refit. No music goin' at least not anything like that. 'Side's wasn't even in English as far as me and Andy can tell." Sig decided to call over.

"Did you manage to get a recording of it so we can hear it? Not sure if I believe ya there John."

"Yeah, Mike got it on his phone this morning off the starboard side. No video just the sound. Couldn't see a damn thing in the dark. Here listen, see if ya recognise it." The radio was silent before there was the tell tale beep of the radio engaging and suddenly my voice was singing back through the speakers. Not the best of quality over the radio but you could definitely tell that it was my voice, that is if you knew me of course. Hearing it played back even made chills run down my spine. There was silence over the radio while the captains gathered their thoughts.

"What the hell was that?" came another voice over the radio. Captain Keith had joined the conversation and I could see Sig's shit eating grin getting bigger. At the time I didn't know of the shit-storm that was happening between the _Time Bandit_ and the _Wizard._

"That you Keith?" asked Phil.

"Yeah, I just walked in the wheelhouse and turned on the radio and there's the weird sound coming over. What's going on?" Sig answered the question, knowing that Johnathan wouldn't talk to Keith directly. And if Keith was picking up the radio call then who was to know how many other boats in Dutch and the surrounds had heard the call as well? The prank was unwittingly getting bigger and was starting to infect the whole fleet.

"The _Bandit _has been hearing things on the way over. Thinks something is following them or a stow-away or something. We just heard what he was hearing, that's all. I gotta admit though that is a little creepy. How often you hearing it?" Sig asked, curious as to the _Time Bandit_'s exact position.

"Every now and then. Only started last night as we neared Sanak Island. Just passed by the island now. That recording we got was the loudest we've heard the singing so far. Whatever is following isn't far behind or lives near the island. Sanak does have its share of shipwrecks as well."

"What do ya think it is?" asked Keith.

"He was asking about Sirens and mermaids." Said Phil. "We've all heard the stories and dismissed them after all they are just children stories, right? I've heard whispers and rumors about sea creatures up here. I'm sure you guys have heard of the Iliamna lake monster, similar to the Loch Ness monster? We fish, but we fish for what we know. There's got to be more out there we don't know about. Hell for all I know mermaids may actually exist." Silence filled the radio waves as everyone digested that there could be something out there that we don't know about and that one of the older captains was acknowledging this fact.

"You think you got a siren following you?" asked Keith.

"There's definitely something following us that's all I know. First time we heard it, we dismissed it as being over tired. Second time, maybe we were just mishearing things. By the sixth time I kinda figured there's something around. We did a sweep of the boat this morning." Both Sig and I stiffened as I heard John say they did this and I hoped that they didn't find the bugs. "Didn't find a single damn thing! Only us on board so definitely not a stowaway." We relaxed a bit. Sig picked up the radio.

"All I can suggest is make a log of when you hear it and where you are. Maybe let Discovery know as well, see if they can keep an eye out and a camera on to see if they can get something. Heard from my producers that they should be on the _Bandit._ You do have them on board already, yeah? Hell maybe they can come up with a new TV show about mythical creatures or something. I got to go. One of my crew members got whacked in the head this morning, got to make sure they're alright so we can continue with stacking gear, plus we have the coast guard coming this arvo for an inspection."

"He alright?" asked Phil.

"They are alive so far. Got to make sure they don't have concussion. Meet you all at the Elbow Room tonight?"

"Sure, why not." Answered Phil.

"I got to make sure that Mouse and the guys has everything ready for our inspection first thing in the morning. I may come down later though if we finish early."

"We're still a day away here, expect to arrive just before 10am. So Andy and I aren't going to make it. No betting without us!"

"Sure John. Safe journey man. _Northwestern_ out." Sig reached up and turned off the radio before looking over at me. "How's the head? Did you get some advil?"

"Sore. You need to get thicker carpet, the floor hurts." I answered, pulling the ice pack away from the swelling. "Got a fucking massive brain-freeze at the moment. And no I didn't get any advil. Headache's not that bad, I can deal with it. I've had worse migraines before." Sig got up and came over to where I was sitting, cupping my face in his hands and leaning down so he could look in my eyes. Silence filled the wheelhouse as he searched my eyes looking for any dilation, his gaze occasionally flicking to the lump that was now beginning to bruise above my left eye.

"Your pupils are alright, no dilation. You are also talking fine, no slurring, so that's good." He said, shifting his right hand up to gently brush the now noticeable lump. I flinched slightly at the small whisp of pain that came when he touched it. "You're going to have a lovely bruise for the next few days though. Sorry about that. You sure you don't want any advil?" I shook my head.

"I'll be alright. I promise."

"Stick by Junior for most of the day. Get him to keep an eye on you. That's an order. I'll make sure the others know."

"Yes Captain." I answered. Not taking my eyes off his.

"Remember you can't go onto the docks yet. I don't feel comfortable letting you off the boat with a head injury anyway." He said gently, his thumbs gently stroking my cheeks.

"I know." I answered just as quietly. "I don't want to leave the boat today anyway."

"Alright. Go and get breakfast, sit down, get some more ice and be ready to help get the rest of the pots on board."

"Aye Aye Captain." He hesitated a moment before stepping back and allowing me room to go downstairs and get ready for the day. As I was about to head down the stairs he spoke up once more.

"I hope you have a Plan B for the _Time Bandit_ because it now seems like you have the whole fleet to fool now.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the long wait. Between moving house, work, nanowrimo, university and medical appointments for a torn ligament, not to mention a missing muse, I just haven't had the time to write for the story. Hopefully I can write a little more often now since most of those things aren't happening.

As always, I don't have anything to do with Deadliest Catch or Discovery Channel. Nor do I have anything to do with the Wiggles and again I don't have anything to do with _Lord of the Rings._

Just a warning to you all, this chapter does deal with sensitive issues and some parts of it were really hard for me to write. While this is a work of fiction some elements of the story are based on my own experiences as well as some historical facts. Things like what happens in the chapter have not happened in my town, to this extent at least (mentions of rape and sexual child abuse).

* * *

**Chapter Five**

I don't remember how it happened but it did. To this day I am still confused with how we managed to pull this off without getting me killed. It shouldn't have worked but it somehow did. After the _Time Bandit _called the other boats about the 'siren' word spread throughout the fleet and apparently it was the talk of the town that night down at the Elbow Room. Of course I was stuck in the house of the _Northwestern_ prepping and coming up with a new plan for the prank as well as preparing and freezing down meals for the crew so that all we had to do while we were out fishing was whack it in the microwave or in a pot on the stove for a quarter hour. Every now and then I would make a trip up to the wheelhouse and continue with phase one of the prank..

I was enjoying the peace and quiet of the boat, it reminded me of my days on the _Asphodel_. The gentle rocking of the boat and the sounds of the lines tightening and relaxing with each movement somehow managed to relax me. Quiet days on a boat are a blessing and should be treasured, especially when in a few days we would be literally fighting for our lives against the Bering Sea.

The boys came back from the Elbow Room at about midnight and the majority of them (Edgar excluded) were going to have severe hangovers in the morning (even Sigurd was partially hung over). I prayed that they hadn't said anything about my being here and the plan otherwise I was fucked. I was lucky that they didn't say anything though and the prank proceeded (mostly) according to plan. Mind you I never ever want to try what I did again.

When morning came I was up making the ultimate Australian hang over breakfast for the guys. The mighty Egg and Bacon Roll and Coca-Cola. Sounds like an odd combination for breakfast I know, especially having Cola at 7am but honestly the amount of times I have seen guys so hung over and have this 'miracle breakfast' and come up good after an hour is remarkable. It is especially popular on New Years Day due to it's 'mystical' abilities. Norman was the first to stumble out of the racks and stagger his way to the head to bring up last nights disaster. I continued to make breakfast before going and gathering the rest of the guys, threatening them with endless torture in the form of me singing The Wiggles songs for the entire trip if they weren't up and at the table within two minutes. (If you don't know who The Wiggles are, they are an extremely popular Australian toddlers 'band' that sing songs about mashed potatoes and the like.)

Once breakfast was over and the guys were ready to face the day it was around 9am and the _Time Bandit _was due to arrive within the hour. I ran the plan through with the guys once more before gathering my duffle bag and donning a set of Junior's clothes so I would be able to get off the boat without people questioning me. I was to pretend that I was Jake and that I was really sick and Edgar was taking him (me) to the clinic in town. Instead we would head up to the mouth of the harbor via Ballyhoo Road and phase two of the prank would begin. I wasn't pleased that it was Edgar who would be helping me to do this phase but it was necessary since everyone knew that Jake and Edgar were such good friends, that and Edgar was the only one sober enough and not hung over to drive. We agreed that we would behave while performing the task, one mistake and I could be laying at the bottom of Dutch Harbor forever.

It was nearly 9.30am by the time Edgar and I reached the edge of the harbor and the end of the spit, up past Trident Seafoods, that protected the boats from the wild weather and the waves from Iliuliuk Bay. Edgar jumped out of the truck with a pair of binoculars trying to see if he could spot the _Time Bandit _anywhere nearby since the last report from Sig was that the boat was nearing the point on the this side of Kalekta Bay, which left us with maybe 15 minutes to get ready and for Edgar to hide the truck back at the processors.

While Edgar was doing that I stripped myself of Jake's clothing and grabbed the handmade neoprene suit. I hadn't tested the suit yet and I was hoping that it would hold together and wouldn't let me freeze in the waters of the harbor. I yelled out to Edgar to find out the water temperature from Sig, since he had the phone as well. Turns out the water was only 10 degrees Celsius, which wasn't too bad, cold but not too cold, of course with snow or ice it could be even worse.

I had a hard time getting the suit on properly, after all it was skin tight and I needed Edgar's help get me into it. After I had as much of the suit on as I could before needed help he came over and helped to get me inside the rest of the suit and since I couldn't wear a bra under it I gave him more then one glare when he 'accidentally' brushed his hand over my breast, however I didn't have time to kill him because by the time the suit was secured we could see the bow of the _Time Bandit _coming around the headland.

"You ready?" he asked and I nodded in reply. I reached into the duffle bag and grabbed a small portable scuba mask that I could easily slip away and out of sight once I surfaced. We had now reached the beginning of the one of the more dangerous parts of the prank, I would need him to carry me to the water - down the rock wall safely and submerge me in the water since I now no longer had any use of my legs. If you haven't figured out by now, the neoprene suit that I had made was that of a siren. Naturally I made the suit in the colours of the_ Asphodel_, yellow and white since the _Northwestern _colours would have been too obvious. I made a promise that if he didn't drop me (which I knew he wanted to) I would learn how to make his disgusting fish head soup and would have to eat the whole pot by myself on the trip. (Okay so the soup wasn't that bad but I still don't like the idea of fish heads in food!)

He lifted me up, bridal style, from the bed of the truck where I had moved to so I could slip the suit on and I loosely wrapped my arms around his neck hoping to Hades that he would keep his word and not drop me on the pointy rocks that made up part of the wall on the spit. I made sure that I had a hold of a small net bag that I made from one of the pots that we had to restring which held a a couple of flares and the small oxygen tank, as well as some seashells and what not so it looked more like what a mermaid would carry with her.

Edgar made his way to the waters edge and I'm surprised to say he gently lowered me into the cold waters of Iliuliuk Bay. The cold water was definitely a shock to the system and I sucked in a small breath as the water seeped through the neoprene. It was nothing that I wasn't used to. The water back home would get to a similar temperature during the winter and I had made many a swim like I did when I first met the guys back in the summer, I mean winter! Whatever! American summer, Australian winter, you get the idea.

"You going to be okay?" there was a definite sound of genuine concern in his voice. I looked up at him and nodded.

"Of course. Leave a radio here on the spit, hidden of course, and I'll radio you if I can't make it to the rendezvous point when I'm done, yeah?" I looked over my shoulder and noticed that the _Bandit_ was closing in. "You better get to Trident. I'll be alright. Promise." He gave me a skeptical look and I rolled my eyes. "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. Now go. Who's to say that the guys haven't already used binoculars to see into the harbor and have already seen the truck here? Go quickly before they recognise you. I'll radio when I'm clear or I'll set off the flares if shit hits the fan okay?" and with that I turned around and shuffled deeper into the waters before awkwardly diving underwater and acclimatising myself to the cold water. When I surfaced I heard the roar of the engine as Edgar drove away back up to Ballyhoo Road and to Trident. I did a couple of small laps both above and below water with the mini portable oxygen tank before heading out deeper, making sure to keep an eye on the boat as it came closer to the entrance.

When the boat was close to where I was swimming (I was now several hundred meters from the spit) and near the shipping lanes was when I began to make my move. I dived back underwater with my 'tail' slapping the water as I dove down and placed my mini mask on as I swam towards where I knew the _Time Bandit_ was about to sail right past. I surfaced maybe forty feet from the starboard side bow and looked directly at the wheelhouse, making sure to hide the mask behind my back before surfacing. I knew that they saw me when I heard someone call out man overboard over the loud speaker. I watched as the men raced on deck and quickly dived back underwater and started to swim back towards the spit. I made sure to surface several times looking back at the boat each time and making sure they were watching me as I finally made it to the spit. I couldn't make out their faces (at least I didn't know what their facial expressions were like until I saw the video footage on the show) but I made sure that each time when I dove back underwater that my 'tail' was easily seen.

I climbed my way back onto the spit before performing the classic mermaid scene. A mermaid sitting on a rock (or in this case on the spit), combing her hair and singing. I made sure to sing the same song that I had been singing for the last couple of days. Just as the _Bandit_ was passing the spit I looked up at them, blew a kiss to the guys and dove back into the water and swam towards the back of the boat, careful enough to not go near the props circling the boat surfacing twice before I swam to the other side of the spit and up towards Trident where Edgar and I had prearranged to meet.

As I made my way to Trident I realised that I only had a limited amount of time left in the water. During the whole time I'd been in the water I could feel myself shivering. I hadn't sealed the suit up properly in one spot on my back where the zipper was attached to the neoprene and a hole was becoming more and more apparent. I needed to get out of the water and fast. I was already in stage one hypothermia and so I did a quick test to check if I was on the way to stage two hypothermia. I stopped swimming for a moment and quickly tried to put my thumb and pinkie together. I couldn't do it. I had been shivering for a while but had dismissed it and kept going with the task at hand. I hoped to Hades that Edgar had a thermal blanket ready in the truck or I was going to wring his neck (once I got the feeling back in my hands). I swam as fast and as best as I could in the neoprene suit to the rendezvous point. I was beginning to feel physically sick now and needed to get out of the water.

I was only about hundred feet from Edgar when I couldn't swim anymore. I was just too tired and my muscles weren't working properly anymore. Instead of the butterfly kicks that I had been doing the whole time, I was kicking randomly and my movement had been slowing down. I needed to get to shore because if I didn't, I'd drown. I was already starting to sink under the surface more often then I normally would. I looked up at the shore and towards Edgar, panic beginning to creep through my mind. It must had showed on my face because Edgar began to make his way into the water. It was only a hundred feet, not even the full length of the _Northwestern, _I had to make it, so I tried to swim to shore my vision getting dark quickly. The last thing that I heard was Edgar calling out my name as he splashed into the water as my head slipped under the waves. I blacked out.

* * *

I woke up aboard the _Northwestern _andI wasn't sure how long I was out for. I was still shivering from the cold so I pulled the blankets around my body tighter trying to stay warm. That was the first sign that the guys knew I was awake. It took me a moment to realise that I was stripped naked underneath the blankets but at that moment I didn't care who did the stripping because I was just so damn cold. I heard the guys moving around the boat outside of the stateroom I had been placed in, the door to the room opening and closing as someone left the room. I curled into a ball and pulled the blankets over my head trying to get warm and go back to sleep within the cocoon I'd made. However it wasn't long before I heard the door reopen and heavy footsteps sounded, although they were muffled through the thick comforters. I felt a weight behind me as someone sat on the bed and started to pull on the comforter.

"Come on, you need to get out so I can check you over." I heard Sig say, mind you it was muffled. I shook my head, not that he could see the movement, and burrowed deeper into the comforter refusing to come out. I felt the bed shift as Sig moved around on the bed and I could just feel the pressure of his hands as he ran them over the comforter trying to find where I'd hidden the edges and where my head was. I shivered more as a small opening appeared and the air slipped through and nipped at my skin. It wasn't cold, obviously they had the heater going in the room somewhere to try and warm up the air.

"Don't make me pull the blankets off you now. Come out so I can assure Edgar and the others that you aren't dead." I rolled my eyes slowly and shuffled my way out of the blankets, at least popped my head out of them. Knowing that I was stripped bear I wasn't about to reveal all to the captain, that would be most humiliating. I noticed I was in the four berth stateroom that Norm, Matt, Jack and Nick shared.

"I'm fine. Just cold." I whispered. Sig nodded and started doing some basic medical checks, well at least he tried too, I wasn't being very cooperative.

"I figured you might be. You were in the water for nearly thirty minutes. It wouldn't have been so bad if you didn't have a hole in the back of your suit." He said completing his check. "I want you to stay in bed for the rest of the day. No leaving the room without help. Someone will bring you something to eat. I believe Edgar is making soup for you." I groaned knowing that he was probably making his fish head soup, Sig gave a quiet laugh when he heard the groaning. "Don't worry it's not his specialty. He's making chicken soup just for you."

"You sure about that?" I asked, even though I was half with it I knew that I could be forced to eat anything to help get my strength back, even the fish head soup. "You do know he is out to get me don't you?" Whatever light mood that had filled the stateroom vanished. I watched as Sig's expression faltered for a moment.

"When Edgar pulled up and bought you onto the boat unconscious we had no idea what happened and were scared shitless. I'd been up in the wheelhouse listening to the radio and knew that they had seen you. They were really freaking out, one minute Johnathan was almost yelling at the Coasties, the harbor master, anyone and everyone to get someone over there quick to make sure they weren't seeing things and that you were caught and the next it was total silence. You'd vanished. I went back to doing my paperwork and was waiting for Edgar to call and say you were on your way safe and sound. It never came. The next thing I know is I hear a truck come screaming up the road towards the boat and skid to a halt, door slamming and Edgar yelling to get blankets. I've never been so scared in my life, at least while we were on dry land." He took a moment before continuing.

"He pulled you out of the truck wrapped in a thermal blanket, we could see the suit on the floor of the truck. So it was Edgar by the way, but don't go and kill him for it, he needed to get you out of the suit." He'd answered my unasked question as to who had stripped me. "He carried you on deck and straight to the galley. You looked so lifeless there in his arms. While you were gone we'd prepped the cabin so you could warm up but we didn't expect you to come back unconscious. Edgar placed you in here and explained everything before heading to dry storage and the freezer and started to cook like a maniac. We haven't heard a word from him since."

"He hasn't spoken?" I asked, sitting up carefully making sure that I was completely covered, Sig wasn't getting a free show like his brother did.

"No. Edgar, when he gets really upset about something he almost shuts down completely. He'll focus on one thing in particular and stick with it. It's like it becomes an obsession and will keep doing it till the situation resolves or he passes out from exhaustion. I don't know how many times he's redone the engine when he gets like this. To be honest I'm surprised that he hasn't holed himself up in the engine room." Sig ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it up a bit.

"But I didn't think he liked me." I said, confused. "I mean look at us. We fight with each other all the time. I mean I never _hated_ him. Disliked immensely for a while sure, but never hated him, nor do I love him. I consider him a friend but..." I trailed off, not know what to say.

"I get the idea. Edgar thinks like that as well just don't tell him I told you that." Said Sig, giving a small smile. "Think of it this way. The whole time we've been on the boat we've never lost anyone. We've had an excellent run with safety. Sure we have had some serious injuries but nothing too life threatening and they were almost always out at sea. Now we are at port and one member of your crew nearly drowns in the harbor, you know as well as I do that many people die while they make their way on and off the boats. It shook him up more than he cares to admit because it was by choice that you chose to go into the water."

"I knew the risks though and was prepared to take them. I just hadn't prepared for a hole in the suit and for hypothermia to set in that quickly." I said. "It was my fault and I am more then capable of handling the consequences. He has to know that I am not a child." Silence filled the room again for a bout a minute before I spoke again.

"How are the others doing? They must be shaken up as well." Sig nodded.

"Yeah they are a little. Nick is more composed then the rest of them. He's seen this happen before, well not the whole mermaid part, but people drowning in the harbor. Norm's doing alright, smoking a little more then normal, same as Matt. Jake though…he's nearly as bad as Edgar. He's really shaken up by this. He hasn't been exposed to this type of situation before and has been by your bedside the whole time and I gather he will be here for the rest of the day just to make sure your alright."

I felt sorry for Jake. He's such a strong man but he is still really new at life on the sea. This must have hit him really hard, almost losing someone must make the reality of what we do finally come crashing down around him. Sure we've heard and seen boats go down without a trace, some or all hands lost, but to come so close to losing someone you know of so well to the ocean, that's when you find out if you are truly made for this kind of life. I know that Jake, while one of the best up and coming deckhands (and could quite possibly become captain one day), may not make it that far if he can't overcome the mental challenge this situation puts him in. I honestly didn't mean to make him go through this but I knew that he would pull through.

"As grateful as I am to have Jake around to look after me, he should be out on deck and working with the others. They are working are they?" I had to ask, since I knew that they may not be working.

"Nope, it's lunch right now. You've only been out for a little over a half hour and we were getting worried. If you didn't wake up after we had finished lunch we were going to call the ambulance or take you to the clinic. We didn't want to risk your health over a prank."

"I was only tired." I defended. "Do you know how hard it is to swim in that suit?"

"No I don't and I don't particularly want to find out. I don't swim and unless I fall overboard I don't particularly want to go in. Why Edgar didn't take you to the clinic straight away I don't know. Normally when someone is unconscious with hypothermia we call the coast guard. I guess he must had assessed you as soon as he got you out of the water."

"What was my temperature when you checked just after you walked in? You never told me." I asked, I had a theory and I wanted to make sure I was right before I attempted the the third and final phase of the prank.

"Just a little under normal, so it wasn't too bad. As you said I think you were more exhausted then hypothermic. I'd still like to get an EMT to look you over just to make sure you will be alright."

"Well that's good news at least but I don't want an EMT, I'm fine. I promise." I rolled my eyes at Sig, clearly he didn't believe I was fine. "Can I have something to eat yet, Doctor Hansen? I'm starving, oh and some clothes wouldn't go astray either, as much as I'm sure Edgar got a decent look I don't particularly want to walk around the boat naked with a bunch of sexually depraved guys who need to get laid before going out to sea."

"Hey! We are not sexually depraved, at least not yet anyway." snapped Sig, clearly insulted.

"Calm down Sigurd, I was joking, well for the most part anyway. Back home the fishermen were more horny then a bunch of teenage boys just after hitting puberty. They would fuck anything that had a set of boobs and walked on two legs." I paused for a moment to collect myself. I've known Sig for nearly four months now, not long when you think about it but long enough to know that he would never share this information to anyone, I needed for him to trust me completely and that when I was finally allowed out to explore Dutch Harbor, I knew that someone would be around who would try to keep me safe, mostly from myself. I also owed him a full explanation as to why I slapped Edgar yesterday.

"As soon as the offload was complete the men would go out of their way to find and fuck the women, willingly or otherwise and regardless of age. When the town knew the boats were coming back I remember the mothers telling the little girls to hide, to stay at their friends place or to go to the church. The fishermen respected the churches and so didn't go near them. The police didn't do anything about it either they were just paid off and as long as it wasn't their little girls that were attacked they looked the other way. It was like we'd gone back in time and the town was invaded by vikings. Many women were raped over the years, some were even abused. I remember walking the street one day and seeing no fewer then sixteen women with even the smallest amount of bruising on their necks and faces. The indigenous women got it worse most of the time due to the old mentality that was around the town. During those times when the men came back you wouldn't see many of the indigenous people, they'd be up at the old mission far out of town. Mind you this didn't happen too often, maybe four or five times a year." I stopped and took a deep breath, staring down at my hands to avoid Sig's eyes.

"It's why I loved the _Asphodel_. When the men came back I would go out, regardless of the season and I could avoid the men at all costs. I was one of those women Sig." A tear escaped and made its way down my cheek. "I was one of them." I cupped my face in my hands crying, not caring if the blankets fell anymore. I felt Sig shift on the bed, I'm guessing he was rather uneasy about what we were talking about, that or now my breasts were exposed.

"I had just turned sixteen. I'd been untouched by everything until then, even though I was the black sheep of the family I was respected enough to not be touched. Other girls weren't so lucky. I guess my father gave the men permission or something, I don't know but one night I was on my way home when I was grabbed from behind and dragged behind the butchers shop where three men were waiting. I lost track of how many times that night I was raped and even though I fought back many times I was tied up so I couldn't fight. Eventually I would spend more nights at the church in sanctuary then at home because they would come into the house with my father and would always want to try something but couldn't because I shared a room with my younger sister. While I was still living at home I wasn't attacked too often, only twice while I was still in school.

"When I was kicked out of the family I made sure that I was able to defend myself from attack after the last time I was attacked at home. I remember each and every single one of those attacks from the time I was sixteen till I was twenty-three. I was attacked eight times. Just after I finished rebuilding the _Asphodel_ was the last attack that I was involved in, and it was one of the worst. Without going into too much detail, I was rather badly beaten and raped by the entire crew of one of the boats. Six men."

I wrapped my arms around my stomach and cried. Sig shifted again and this time wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his embrace.

"I was pregnant from one of those attacks and that night I lost the baby due to the beating. I hadn't told anyone about it, I mean why would I? My family wouldn't have cared, they kicked me out after all. I was sixteen weeks along. I was about to find out the baby's gender in a couple of weeks, although the technician thought it might be a baby girl they couldn't be sure until later. I was going to be a mother. I was going to sail away from there and never come back, I'd leave everything behind as long as my little girl was safe." I couldn't speak anymore, I was crying too much. But at least now he knew, at least someone knew.

* * *

I don't know how long I was crying for but Sig held and comforted me the whole time. Sig eventually left the room and a short while later Jake came in and bought some pajama's for me to get dressed into as well as some soup (it was chicken and not fish) and a glass of water. After I had eaten a small meal he came back with a couple of books and a laptop. He placed the books on the floor by the rack I was in and sat on the opposite rack with the laptop open.

"Sorry, it's all we have right now. We don't have any girly romance books for you to read, but when I've finished with the laptop you are more then welcome to use it. Maybe even watch some movies? Sounds good?" he asked nervously. I smiled weakly at him as I lay in the rack ignoring the books. I really just wanted to sleep.

"Thanks Jake. I'm sorry that you have had to go through this. You shouldn't have to worry so much about your friends nearly dying." Jake looked over the top of his laptop screen

"Why are you apologising? You don't need too. It was an accident and you/re okay. You're not going to do it again anyway so it doesn't matter."

"Not, not do it again? What are you talking about Jake? There is still one more step to this prank before it is done and you're telling me I'm not doing it?" I asked, sitting up abruptly nearly knocking my head on the rack above.

"Sig didn't tell you? I guess that explains why we didn't hear any yelling. We all decided that it was best if you didn't do phase three due to what happened." I was getting upset. I'd work my ass off making that outfit and getting everything together, we were not going to ditch the prank just before the end.

"Sig didn't tell me squat." I struggled slightly to get out of bed with all those blankets (I swear there were about ten of them on there) before making my way into the galley and towards the wheel house before Jake even had a chance to register that I had left the bed. I was intercepted by Edgar coming down from the wheelhouse.

"You! You're behind this I know it." I said as I poked him in the chest.

"What did I do this time your majesty?" he asked. "Where's Jake, I thought he was watching you?" Edgar looked over my shoulder and noticed as Jake peeked out and around the door frame.

"Dude, I didn't see her move! I swear. She was gone so quickly." Edgar looked back and glared a little at me.

"Back to bed with you. Don't want you getting sick before we leave and have you collapse on us while we are crabbing." I crossed my arms and stood my ground trying to look intimidating while standing in a pair of flannel pyjama's.

"No. Not unless you and the rest of the crew promise me that I can do the last stage of the prank." Needless to say the threatening and the stance were not very convincing. Edgar just raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"No can do Princess. You're not going back into that water unless the boat is sinking. Boat decision and I can't overrule that. Now back to bed." I stayed where I was. Edgar sighed and rolled his eyes at me. "Sorry about this, don't kill me but your too goddamn stubborn." He reached forward and grabbed me before I knew what was happening and swung me up and over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Once I realised what had happened (not that I could have stopped it to be honest) I started to hit his back repeatedly and yelled at him, drawing the attention of his brothers who both came down from the wheelhouse.

"Let me down you Neanderthal! Put me down now! I'm going to fucking kill you as you sleep if you don't!" I screamed a little as I was jostled around when he started moving back to the room. He entered the room and gently placed me back on the bed. I started to get up and back out of the rack but was stopped when Edgar got on the bed and straddled me to stop me from getting up.

"Settle down otherwise I will sit here for the rest of the day." I tried to move to push him off but Edgar grabbed a hold of my wrists and after spilling my whole story to Sig, I was feeling rather vulnerable and weak. My mind took me to a place that filled my nightmares. I started to thrash around as I became lost in the illusion my mind had filled with. An alleyway, the smell of bleach and offal. The feeling of hands everywhere, I started screaming out.

"Edgar get off her now!" I barely heard Sig through the static but I noticed when Edgar's weight disappeared. I curled up in a ball and cried. I didn't hear the door shut but I knew that I was now totally alone in the room. I spent the majority of that afternoon crying.

* * *

It was late at night when I finally came out of the stateroom. The guys had been more then respectful and not intruded into the room while I was in there and gave me my space. However that did mean that three of them were not going to be in the beds that night if I didn't unlock the room. I came out to an empty galley. It had been quiet on board for several hours now, so I assume that they went to the Elbow Room, leaving me alone. After having a shower and cleaning myself up in the head, taking as much time as I felt comfortable taking with the rationed water supply, I freshened up and went out on deck. I spotted the truck that Edgar and I used earlier in the day and so, making sure I was covered head to toe in the dark, I snuck off deck and over to the vehicle. I opened the door and looked for the siren suit and I was super lucky to have found it on the floor where Sig said he'd seen it. I grabbed it and snuck back on deck and into the house. Lowering my hood I placed the suit on the table in the galley and grabbed my kit that I had used to make the suit.

I quickly found where the hole was on the back of the suit and mended it as well as strengthening any places on the suit that looked or felt like they were going to open. I had just finished mending the suit (as well as making a slight alteration to the zipper mechanism) when I heard the sound of multiple car doors closing. I quickly grabbed all my gear and dashed back to my original rack, hiding the suit and pretending to be asleep. I heard the guys and they tried to make their way through the galley. I heard a set of footsteps come into the room I was currently in and head back out.

"Looks like she went back to her bed." Edgar said, before good night's were passed around and the men went to their beds. I fell into a fitful sleep well after Edgar had gone to sleep in the rack above me.

I was awoken by the muffled chirping of my watch, which I had set before falling asleep and muffled because my wrist was under my pillow, I turned it off before getting out of bed, grabbing the suit and heading out on deck still in my pyjama's. I didn't care I was going to finish this. I climbed up on the docks (since it was a little above low tide) and got into one of the trucks that had been left behind. Starting it up I made my escape from the _Northwestern_ as quickly as I could and headed over towards another dock. Once there I got out and made my way as to the edge of the dock with the suit and the mermaid bag with the portable oxygen. I made sure there was no one around and quickly stripped. As I was trying to get my suit I heard the sound of another truck coming and looking over to where the sound was coming from I noticed it was the other truck that was parked on the dock. I needed to get the suit on now before they got here. After a very tense minute and a half I was able to get the form-fitting suit on and discard the ribbon I used to up the zipper.

The sound of tires screeching on the dirt and wooden dock caused me to turn and face an angry Edgar and a nervous and worried Jake exiting the still running truck. Jake pulled out his phone and I assumed started to call Sig to update him on the situation.

"You get your arse out of that fucking suit now and back to the boat before I make you." Yelled Edgar as he stormed towards me. I managed to shuffle myself to the edge of the dock.

"No. You can't stop me. I'm going to finish this." And with that I eased myself forward and over the side of the dock and into the cold waters of Dutch Harbor and swam out of sight under the dock. I surfaced hidden by a pylon just underneath where the two where and listened as Edgar was cursing up a storm in both English and Norwegian. I heard Jake talking to Sig on the phone (via speaker phone so Edgar could hear) and the sounds of Sig radioing the other boats with a man overboard call. There was a sudden flurry of activity on the dock above me as the men on the boats nearby suddenly came alive, loud hailer's being used all over the harbor. It was startling and I knew I would have to move before I was found. I grabbed the portable oxygen and turned it on, diving beneath the water and swimming away, under a couple of the boats and towards the centre of the harbor.

I surfaced, hiding the oxygen, and looked back at the boats. I heard several shouts from different directions and noticed as several men pointed in my direction. I scanned the harbor to find out where the _Time Bandit _was docked and spotted it near the Cornelia Marie. I dived back underwater when I noticed that a skiff had entered the water from the direction of where the _Wizard_ was tied up and was heading in my direction. I'm not sure if it was the _Little Wiz _or not, but it didn't matter at that exact moment because I didn't want to get anywhere near it and so swam for the _Bandit _not noticing or caring if they saw my tail or not now. I swam underneath the _Bandit_ surfaced under the dock where they could see me but could definitely hear. I held onto one of the pylons, making sure that the boat wasn't going to bash itself against it and crush me and when I was certain I sang once more, only this time there was more then just the the _Bandit_boys who would hear this, the docks were now filled with people.

"I ngîl cennin erthiel ne menel aduial,  
Ha glingant be vîr síliel moe.  
I ngîl cennin firiel ne menel aduial,  
And-dúr naun i fuin a galad firn naegriel moe.  
An i natha, an i naun ului  
A chuil, ann-cuiannenm am meleth, perónen."

I was imagining the faces of the people on the docks and on the boats as they heard the singing and could quiet possibly be freaking out up there. I Ducked back under the water and swam out from under the dock and below the _Bandit_ knowing that they would be on the look out now and sure enough when I surfaced not to far away the guys were scanning the harbor even harder then before, spotting me easily before grabbing a net that they had prepared somewhere. I panicked a bit when I saw the net, I couldn't get caught, not now, it would ruin everything. I heard the sounds of the skiff coming closer and turned to see three skiffs heading this way and one of them was indeed _Little Wiz_.

I dove back under and went as deep as I could swimming away towards the _Northwestern_ and hopefully back to safety. What I hadn't counted on was getting snagged in some odd line combination (not quite a net) that had been dropped suddenly behind of me. I hadn't realised that I was stuck until the very end of my suit, the fins, were caught under the weight of the sinker because I came to a sudden stop, nearly ripping my suit and accidentally dropped the bag with the only remaining oxygen falling just out of reach, forgotten. I twisted around to see what it was a noticed that it was a makeshift small anchor that had been dropped. I began to panic. There wasn't much oxygen left in the small tank. I needed for the weight to disappear before I ran out and drowned. I started to push the makeshift anchor as hard as I could, but underwater movement is a lot harder and slower and I didn't get it to move much at all. I was almost bent double as I tried to push the weight off and so didn't see when someone had come up behind me and touched my shoulder. I gasped and the oxygen I had dropped out of my mouth and fell away from me. My time was now extremely limited.

Two minutes. At most.

I looked over to the person who had touched my shoulder and noticed a man in a scuba suit, mask and all, so I couldn't see his face clearly. I looked at him with panic, trying to plead with him to get the weight off my suit. Motioning for him to try and lift it. He shook his head and pointed upward and there I saw the bottom of the skiff who had me pinned. I shook my head, I didn't want to get in the skiff. I pushed again at the weight looking over and motioning him to help. He must have seen something in my eyes, I don't know because he swam over and started to push as well.

One minute. I wast starting to get a little light headed now, and rather uncomfortable. I was running out of time.

We finally managed to get the weight off of the tail and I grabbed for the fallen mouth piece, turning away from the man before taking a breath of the oxygen and began to look around for the bag, making sure to hide the majority of the piece (trying to make it look like I help a small knife or blade instead of the mask). I spotted it just under the swimmer. I looked up at him and noticed as he tried to swim forward. I swam back as quickly as I could trying to avoid him. I didn't want him to get me, whoever he was. He held out his hand to me gesturing for me to take it. I shook my head once more and decided to abandon my bag and try to get away I quickly turned and swam as fast as I could away from him, helped thankfully by the large tank on his back slowing him down.

Once I managed to get a decent distance away I swam to where I thought the _Northwestern _was docked. I couldn't be sure now without surfacing because I was now lost in the underwater gloom of the harbor. I was starting to shiver due to the cold and realised that I had been in the water for far longer then I thought I had been and I was seriously running out of oxygen. I had no choice but to surface and my best bet was as close to a boat as possible to avoid detection. I found the closest boat and swam as close as I dared too it before surfacing. As soon as I surfaced I noticed I was on the wrong side of the harbor from the _Northwestern_ and that I wouldn't have enough oxygen to make the swim. All of a sudden a net was thrown over me and I started to writhe and thrash about in the water, tangling myself up further. I felt myself start to be pulled out of the water as the net was raised so I quickly disposed of the portable oxygen by throwing it back in the water. As I was raised up I took note of the colours of the boat and noticed it was teal and yellow. The _Cornelia Marie_.

I was carefully raised and gently lowered onto the centre of the deck on the _Cornelia_ and I hurried to remove the net from me. I was starting to shiver after being exposed to the cold air and heard Captain Phil yell over the loud hailer to get some blankets to cover me and was telling the other boats that they got me. A young man with dark hair and a funny looking beard and mustache combination came over with several blankets and carefully placed them next to me. I easily recognised him as Josh Harris. I looked at him and pretended not to know what to do with them. He grabbed one and tried to wrapped me up in it and I flinched as he came closer, continuing the distressed mermaid act, wondering how long I could keep it up for.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." He said. "I'm Josh, I'm just going to wrap this blanket around you okay?" I cocked my head to the left and gave him a confused look.

"Lá istan tye-hanya." I said quietly. (I don't understand you.) He paused in his movement towards me with the blanket.

"What did you say? Sorry I didn't catch that." I looked up at him and spoke again, more clearly.

"Lá istan tye-hanya. Ma alahanda nát?" (I don't understand you, are you stupid?) He furrowed his eyebrows and made to move towards me again. Again I flinched but this time he succeeded in getting the blanket around me. Making sure I was wrapped up warm. I looked around and noticed that the crew had gathered on deck and many were stunned at what they had pulled out of the water. By the looks of it, from a small distance of course, it really did seem as if they had pulled a real life mermaid on deck in the middle of Dutch Harbor. I noticed as a man came down from the wheelhouse via the stairs on the outside and recognised him immediately as Captain Phil.

"John and Andy are on their way over at the moment. So are Sig and Edgar." He said to the crew before looking over at me. My heart sank when I heard that Sig and Edgar were coming over. I was going to be in big trouble when they got there. And that was an understatement.

"My name is Phil. You seemed to have caused quite a stir among the harbor this morning, well the last few days to be exact."

"Dad. Somehow I don't think that she knows what you are saying." Said Josh, who hadn't moved far from where I was sitting on the deck.

"Ëarenen ar eleninen! Fó, lá istan tye-hanya." I exclaimed, blowing a stray strand of hair out of the way. (By the sea and the stars! No, I don't understand.)

"Seems to be that way." He said kneeling down to my level. "She's a pretty thing, I'll give her that, a bit troublesome though, mind you we should have expected that, if we weren't tied up I'd say she'd might try to run us into the rocks like she tried to with Johnathan on his way over. Why she picked them I don't know." I decided to play sneaky I opened my mouth and started to sing again.

"I ngîl cennin erthiel ne menel aduial, ha glingant be….." I was cut off when I heard Johnathan yell out to Phil.

"Shut her up! Do you want to go insane? I've heard that damn siren song so many times! GAH!" I pouted as I was cut off and looked over to where the two captains of the _Time Bandit_ had finally made their appearance and noticed that there was more then a few trucks heading this way. 'Oh shit' was the thought that went through my head.

"You better get her inside before she is mobbed. I know that Fourtner is out for her after she got away when he was diving. Apparently her tail got caught under the skiff anchor we dropped and he helped her get it off. Not happy about her swimming off. Apparently she slapped him in the face with her tail as she got away. Nearly knocked the camera off as well as his mask." Andy said, that I didn't know and I hap to suppress a laugh. Josh moved closer out of the corner of my eye, moving as if he was going to pick me up. I flinched again and slapped at his hand bearing my teeth and hissing at him. Snapping at his hands as he came closer, so he quickly pulled away.

"I don't think we are getting anywhere near here right now." Said Phil.

"No I don't think you will be. She doesn't do too well around strangers." I heard Sig say and the blood drained from my face. Oh shit, Shit, SHIT! I was in trouble now. I hadn't heard Sig or Edgar come aboard due to all the noise that was happening on the docks with all the trucks that had turned up and the men around taking photos. Edgar threw a bag at me which landed next to me on the deck.

"You better get those on and get back to the _Northwestern_ before I fire you and send you back to Australia after this stunt you pulled. You were nearly killed yesterday for doing this!" My eyes hardened as I glared at Sig, totally ignoring the audience we had.

"Do you know how long I was trapped in that god forsaken boat while you guys were on shore? I had to leave or I was going to go stir crazy. And since I planned this to its entirety, I was going to do this all the way to the end, no matter if you or the others came to an agreement to not let me do it. I may be your employee but you are not my father!" silence filled the deck as Sig and I fought with each other.

"Get back to the boat now." He said, voice cold and even, completely different to his normal temper. He was dead serious and the shit was going to hit the fan when we finally got over there.

"I wish I could but as you can see, right now I'm a little tied up at the moment and can't exactly walk. So unless you are going to throw me overboard or carry me I can't get back there right at this very moment." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared hard at him. Sig gave an equally fierce glare back before moving forward and picking me up and swinging me over his shoulder just like Edgar had the night before. This time I went quietly knowing that I was going to be in big trouble and I could only hope that I wasn't sent back to Australia for it. As Sig loaded me into the truck, Edgar following and sitting behind me, I heard someone say "What the hell just happened?

13


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Note:** I tried to get this out on my birthday but I had so much trouble with this chapter at the beginning and then the end kinda took it's own tangent. But it's here now and that is all that matters.

Also, I've gone back and edited the name of the main character. I think part of the reason why I couldn't write is because my Muse refused to call her by her previous name. Hopefully she will settle down now and let me write. I've gone back and changed what needed to be changed (pretty sure it was only chapter one that needed to be changed) Sorry for the confusion guys but she wouldn't let me write if I didn't do so.

One last thing, a big thanks to Lioncourt for all the help that she gave me to get me to finally complete this chapter. You can get out of my head now chicka!

* * *

**Chapter Six **

The ride back to the _Northwestern_ was silent with not a word being spoken between the three of us. Even sitting on the far side of the truck, as far as humanly possible from the driver's seat, I could practically feel the anger rolling off Sig. Most people know or see Sig screaming and yelling when he is mad or very pissed off, but when he gets beyond angry he will go silent. Dead silent. That is when you should be worried. I've learnt over the years when to stop before getting to Sig's breaking point, but at this time I wasn't aware of how far to push him. Must be a Hansen thing 'cause Norman (and I!) do the same. Edgar though, he yells when he gets to the same point. Yeah, we argued all the time (still do actually) but it is more like a brother or sister or a married couple squabbling then an actual fight. While Edgar does raise his voice while we argue with each other it's when he gets to that breaking point that something in him changes, just a small thing, a change in the glint in his eye, the way he holds himself, his whole demeanor changes and then all hell breaks loose and you run for cover.

When we finally arrived back at the _Northwestern_ I had to wait until someone came and helped me out of the truck since I was still in the mermaid suit. Sig slammed the door of the truck as he exited and stormed his way to the boat not once looking back. Edgar was a little gentler closing the door to the backseat behind me before coming around and opening my door so I could get out. I gratefully accepted his help as he lifted me out of the truck and walked towards the _Northwestern._

"I'll put you in the stateroom and unzip the back. Get dressed and head to the wheelhouse." He said before placing me gently on the dock and making his way onto the deck. "Sig is as pissed as hell, and while I am not exactly pleased with what you have done, he is the one who you will get your arse chewed out by. He hired you so he has to take the responsibility of quite possibly firing you." I gave Edgar a small nod as he lifted me onto the boat and back into his arms.

"He's that mad?" I asked quietly, wincing as I heard a loud crash coming from the wheelhouse. "Well I guess that answers that then." We didn't say another word as Edgar took me back into the house and to the stateroom. He placed me gently on the bed before motioning for me to turn around so he could unzip the back of the suit.

"Be quick. I don't know how long he will wait. Sig is not a patient man." I looked over my shoulder at Edgar as he turned and started to leave the stateroom.

"Edgar?" he stopped but didn't turn around. "I know it might not mean much now, but I'm sorry. For everything." I turned away from him and started to pull the suit off of my shoulders and I heard Edgar walk out of the room and close the door behind him. I manged to get the wet suit off as quick as I could, which wasn't that quickly, far slower then peeling off a normal wetsuit that one would wear while surfing. I slipped out of the soaked undergarments I didn't have a chance to take off and quickly got dressed into some warm clothes, just jeans and a tee-shirt. Nothing fancy. I quickly ran a brush through my hair, which was sure to be looking like a birds nest right about now before I steeled myself to face my fate.

I walked out into the galley and noticed that it was empty. Seems like the crew had all but vanished out on deck or into town to give Sig and I some space to 'discuss'. I paused at the bottom of the stairs that led to the wheelhouse. I've never had to face this before. I was never even sent to the principals office when I was a kid! I had no idea what to expect except an angry Norwegian and that was not going to be pretty. I took a deep breath and braced myself before making my way up the stairs. I got to the landing where Sig's stateroom is located and noticed that the door to the wheelhouse was closed. I knocked on the hatch door above my head before opening it as I heard a muffled come up and made my way into the room.

I quickly scanned the wheelhouse and noticed Sig was sitting in his chair, cigarette in his hand a looking hard out the window across the harbor. I didn't move once I had spotted the captain and didn't say a thing. I had no idea what was about to happen and what I should do. I let Sig make the first move. Silence filled the wheelhouse for what seemed like an eternity before Sig finally spoke.

"Do you know what you have just done?" he said, his voice almost a whisper and I nearly didn't catch it from the other side of the room. I shook my head a little, knowing that he couldn't see it since he was still looking out the window and had yet to face me. I didn't want to break the heavy spell he had weaved around the wheelhouse."You embarrassed me in front of the entire fleet. You made me look like a fool who can't control his crew. You defied my authority in front of not only the other captains in the Harbor, but to the entire town. The greenhorns, the deckhands. Even the processors and Dutch Harbor natives. What am I supposed to do now? How can I even show my face at the Elbow Room this evening knowing that the whole town might be talking about my lack of authority and they will question my ability to control my crew."

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say other then I was sorry, but I knew that right now was not the time to say it. Sig finally turned to look at me.

"You have single handedly destroyed my reputation as a competent captain within this fleet." The look in his eyes nearly broke me. Here was a man who was beginning to believe that his world was going to crash down around him and it was entirely my fault. I would have much preferred him yelling at me then this - the soft yet disappointed voice.

"Sigurd. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Forgive me." I couldn't stay silent anymore. I couldn't stand to watch as the strong captain I knew began to fall apart. "We can fix this. I know we can. They will never have to know that I defied your authority. Please. We can fix this. Just give me a chance. I'll do anything you say. You can even send me back to Australia if you have too. Anything." My eyes were filled with tears which I had a hard time trying to hold back. This was my mistake and I was going to fix it. With or without Sig's permission, however this time I'd rather I had his permission.

"I don't think this can be fixed Teya. There has been some crazy shit that some of the boats have done before but never has it involved the Coast Guard. We might get massive fines for this which could ruin our season, if not our entire year." The blood drained from my face when I heard that. I had not even thought of those consequences. Back home in Australia in my harbour we only had a part-time coast guards since it was mainly volunteers who worked at the station, and normally it was only manned for the entire day during the summer period when the tourists were around. I had also forgotten that the the Coast Guards were also part of the United States military and so this whole 'rescue' might have been considered a waste of resources.

"Sigurd. Can we not pretend that the whole thing was intentional? And that we tried to contact the Coast Guard before the stunt was pulled? I'll even try to sell the _Asphodel_ if it will help. Take all my wages if the fines happens. I said I would do anything to make it right and I stand by that decision."

Sig started to shake his head before stopping. "It might partly work. At least with the fleet. We will have to deal with the Coast Guard as it happens. You will still have to be punished. You will be assigned to bait duty only while on deck. You are not even allowed to go and work at the sorting table. You will the come inside and make sure that there is enough food for all of us. You will move all your belongings to my quarters and will be isolated from the rest of the crew during rest periods." I was horrified at the idea of isolation. I've already spent months cooped up in the boat and broke free to do the prank because I was in need of, well, air really. I had no choice really, I did say I would do anything.

"Of course Sig. Anything." I agreed.

"You will also clean the entire _Northwestern _while we are gone and make sure that she it is in top shape while the crew are in Seattle. I do expect the boat to still be in one piece when we return." I nodded, I would never do anything to damage his boat.

"Very well Sig. It is the least I can do. I never meant for it to go this far. I never meant to hurt you or your reputation or to challenge your authority. As a captain myself I should have known better. I'm so sorry." I stayed where I was since I hadn't been dismissed yet. Sig looked away and put out his cigarette before grabbing and lighting a new one. "One last thing. You are to apologise to the entire fleet tonight at the Elbow Room. Publically." I was shocked. Sig was actually going to let me out?

"Sig, that would kind of defeat the purpose of telling the fleet that it was intentional. If you ask me to do this, and I'm not defying you here - just hear me out," I said after I noticed that he was about to speak again. "If you make me apologise for the prank that would then diminish the impact of the prank itself. Besides, at the moment no one knows that I am a crew member of the Northwestern. For all they know, I am just a new person in town here to help the boat get ready for the season or that I am the girlfriend of one of the crew members. They don't know. Hell for all they know I'm just some random person that you hired to just do this prank."

"I'm pretty sure I said that if you didn't get back to the boat straight away I would fire you." He said. "You can sit down by the way, you're not in the principal's office." I gave him a small nod and moved to sit on the small bench seat.

"Even if you did you can still play it off as it being the ultimate prank. You don't have to say anything at all. I promise. It will be alright. I'll go to the Elbow Room tonight and explain the whole thing to the _Bandit_ and _Cornelia_ boys so that they understand, but I won't apologise to them for something that I don't mean." I figured that this would be one of my last chances of freedom before setting out in the morning. We had been in Dutch for a few days already and the boat was just about set to leave and I had yet to see the small harbor town beyond the rails or the inside of the truck. There was a small pause as Sig digested the fact that I said that even though I would do anything, this was one thing I refused to do. The atmosphere changed slightly as Sig's mood changed.

"Are you saying that you won't do it? You won't apologise even if I ordered you too?" he said, a dangerous edge to his voice that made me shift in my seat slightly. I was now on the defensive again, not that I really ever left being on the defence.

"All I am saying is that if you don't want to look like the fool you've made out to be in your head you should not order me to apologise to the fleet. I will apologise to the Coast Guard, formally of course if something happens there but to the fleet? No. It will only hurt your reputation more if you do that and the _Time Bandit_ boys would never let you live it down." And that was when I knew that the shit had officially hit the fan. The air around Sig almost literally was crackling with energy, but at least this was something I was more familiar with, Angry Sig not disappointed Sig. I just wasn't prepared for the level of anger that was directed at me.

"Do you really think that matters right now?" Sig exploded out of his chair, face redder than I'd ever seen it which caused me to shrink back in my seat a little. "After everything I did for you, after all the hoops I jumped through to help you, to bring you here, you really think I care about what the Hillstrand's will think? " He looked like he wanted to grab me and shake some sense into me. "You will do what I tell you to, so help me god."

"Sigurd." I said, almost a whisper, fear clearly evident in my voice. It was clear that while he was extremely angry he was trying to hold himself back from actually trying to grab me. However, something inside me snapped for the first time in a long time and I actually yelled back. This time is wasn't like fighting with Edgar, it was different.

"I never asked you to do any of that! I didn't ask to come here!" I yelled at him, getting up off the bench and facing him at almost eye level.

"You agreed to it!" he yelled back.

"And you agreed to let me do this prank MY way. You can try to control me but you wont succeed Sigurd. I am not a child." I'm ashamed to admit that I crossed my arms and even stomped my foot when I said this.

"Really? Because you're acting like one." He retorted. An image flashed through my mind of me slapping Sig just like I slapped Edgar appeared for but a moment however I pushed it away as soon as it came, knowing that slapping Edgar was one thing. I got away with that, but slapping Sig, I would surely be fired at the very least. Worst case scenario I would be deported back to Australia.

"A child! How dare you! I am far from being a child." I exclaimed, beginning to regret my decision in not smacking Sig five ways to Sunday.

"And I am far from a fool!" he yelled back at me, standing directly in front of me now as our noses were practically touching as we slowly inched closer to each other. "You made me look like one. I will not allow you to destroy everything that I have worked so hard for my entire life!"

"And I don't WANT to destroy it! I never intended to do anything of the sort!"

"Intended or not, it's happened now and we have to deal with the consequences. More specifically YOU have to deal with the consequences. Dear fucking God! If you were really as young as the way you are acting then I would have no hesitation in laying you across my knee and give you a spanking that you would never forget." That comment had definitely come out of left field. I wasn't expecting Sig to say anything like that.

"What? Why would you even want to do that?" Sig gave me a funny look.

"Do I _really_ need to list the reasons why? Surely you are not that naive?"

"Argh! You are one fucking piece of work Sigurd. I got a little message for you. The world does NOT revolve around you! Honestly, after a few years no one is going to care if you made a mistake once, that you looked like a fool. As long as no one got hurt it will all blow over."

"No one got hurt? NO ONE got HURT?" he hollered back, "You could have died!" It was then that I figured out that Sig was not just angry with what happened, he was worried, he was scared and only Sig knew why.

"I know! Alright! For the love of god! I know! But I didn't okay?" I yelled to him, reaching up and running my hands through my hair and tugging slightly on the ends in frustration. "You do you worry so much? You don't need too."

"BECAUSE I CARE! For fuck's sake! You're a part of this crew, which makes you a part of this family. And I care about my family alright! Is that a crime now-a-days?" I took a step back in shock and covered my mouth. This was the most shocking news to me. I never expected him or any of the crew to care about me more then a workmate. I had no idea what to say. What could I say?

"Sig, I…" I backed away from him, or I at least tried too. The back of my knees came into contact with the bench seat I was sitting on before and my legs gave way and I collapsed back onto the seat.

"You what, didn't think we could care? That _I_ could care about you?" he had began to calm down a little by now but it was clear that he was still frustrated with me. There was still a slightly sharp edge to his voice.

"I never meant that! I didn't say that you couldn't Sig." I answered him.

"No, but you thought it, didn't you?" Sig hit the nail right on the head, I did doubt that they actually cared about me. To be honest, I had never have thought that any of the crew would have come to care that much about me especially only after just a few months. And while I now know they cared a little bit, having gotten to know them a little, I still doubted how much they actually cared, Edgar in particular was one of the reasons I doubted this, and it would be months, if not years before I truly knew and accepted how much they did care. I didn't say anything, what could I say? That yes, it was what I had thought. Sig pressed on.

"Didn't you Teya? Even after all this time you still think you don't matter to us." Sig's voice was getting soft again.

"I..." I hung my head, how could I admit that was what I'd been thinking. "What do you want me to say Sig? Yes, I did. How could I not question it after all I have been through? Do you know how hard it is for me to actually trust someone? To actually accept that there is someone, let alone a whole boat full of people who actually care for me, it's a foreign concept for me. It's more foreign to me then a new language. New languages are far easier for me to navigate then people. I've had a rough time growing up, you know that, it makes it hard to trust people." Sig ran his hand through his hair before sitting down next to me on the bench seat, even if it was a little cramped.

"I know but you need to open up and learn to trust the others and accept that while you are on this boat you are one of us. You are family now." I gave Sig a small smile.

"Thanks Sig." I took a deep breath before getting up from the bench. I turned to face him. "I better go and get my stuff and move it to my quarters and is it alright if I go to the store and get some groceries? I'm running a little low on personal supplies and I'd rather not have the guys go and buys those kinds of products.." Sig nodded, looking slightly weirded out with that comment but at least the atmosphere had finally lightened up. I made my way to the hatch that led back down to the galley.

"By the way Sig," I said as I turned away and started to walk down the stairs back to the galley. "If you wanted to spank me you would have had to catch me first. I just _love_ to play hard to get." I didn't see his face as I made my way down and out of the wheelhouse but I like to imagine that it took a lot of restraining, both mentally and physically, to stop himself from chasing after me and I don't really want to know if it was to spank me or strangle me.

* * *

I spent the afternoon out and about in Dutch Harbor. It was amazing how I hadn't realised how much I had missed the fresh air after being stuck on the boat with the smell and taste of diesel staining the air. The small town held its own charm that was exactly as everyone describes it to be. A last frontier town, almost wild wild west style to be honest just no gun play like in the movies. At least not as much when the Hillstrand boys are in town. There is always something going on with those boys - guns, fireworks you name it they have probably done it.

I had walked into the main town centre from the _Northwestern._ It was probably a little far to walk, but I figured I could take a taxi back or to get one of the locals to give me a lift. It was actually a nice little place to live and I could easily have seen myself settling down here if it wasn't for the fact that it was too damn cold! Even though it was October it was still too cold for me and even now I still get cold and beg my husband to let us go back to Australia every winter for Christmas and not go Opie fishing or to go after Opie season.

There weren't a lot of shops around in Dutch, most just supply the natives and the crabbers with the essentials and some luxuries so there wasn't a lot to look and see. I went to Safeway and bought all my personal supplies that I would need while on the boat, plus a few non essentials as well. A girl can never be unprepared you know. As I was about to head to the check out I overheard three old ladies on in pink, another in green and the last in blue, gossiping over by the bread and they mentioned the word mermaid. I had to stop and listen in to hear what they were saying.

"Yes! Can you believe it? A real life mermaid!" cried the lady in the blue tracksuit. She was the shortest of the three ladies.

"Oh Mavis, are you really that gullible? You've lived here for so many years and this is the first time that a mermaid has even been mentioned! I think it is all just one of those pranks that those men always play on each other."said one of them, the lady was dressed in a ghastly pink cardigan with cats on it. It was easy to imagine that she was one of those crazy cat ladies you see and hear about all the time.

"Oh but Agnes, what if it was true? What if it were a real life mermaid? I spoke with my son Justin before. He managed to get over to the Cornelia as it was all happening. He managed to get a photo of the men on the boat pulling up the net that they dropped to catch it and there was definitely a mermaid tail in there. He showed me the photo." Said the third, the one dressed in green. She was almost bouncing with excitement.

"Settle down Winifred. You are not that young anymore. You have lived here the longest and there has never been any mention of a mermaid before this."

"Oh honestly Agnes, don't be such a spoil sport. Even if it is just one of those pranks that those men are pulling it is still one of the more exciting things to happen here that isn't to do with a ship sinking or a man overboard." pouted Winifred.

I stepped away from the ladies and made my way to the check out. I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the town and hearing all about the mermaid. I was very lucky to have not been spotted or recognised as yet. However it was just as I was about to head back to the boat that the inevitable happened. I ran into a _Bandit_ boy. Literally. I was walking around a corner of a building and walked smack bang into a hard body.. My shopping fell to the ground as we collided.

"Oh I am so sorry!" I apologised and I bent down to pick up my fallen bags. I half expected the person who I ran into help me but they stayed where they were. When my bags were finally collected and I stood up with them in hand I gasped and nearly dropped them all over again. Not only was it a _Bandit _boy it was one of the two heads of the_ Bandit,_ Captain Andy Hillstrand and I thank my lucky stars that it was Andy and not Johnathan. I know that Johnathan was probably out for blood, especially my blood. So I was kinda happy that I ran into the more rational and not as hotheaded brother. Andy still didn't say anything.

"Captain? I'm sorry I didn't mean to run into you." I said, starting to get confused as to why he wasn't speaking. A few more moments passed and I realised he was assessing me.

"I know you." He said. I paled slightly.

"Yes. You do. Although we haven't officially met before." I answered, my voice trembling a little. I'm not going to lie. I was scared of what would happen when introduced myself. "I'm Teya Jansen over on the _Northwestern_." I paused for but a moment, reluctantly telling how he knew me. "I'm the siren." Andy's eyes hardened when he heard the word siren.

"The siren?" All I could do was nod. I wasn't ashamed of what I did, but I was still scared of what could happen.

"Yes. Look, I'm not going to apologise for pulling that prank but you can't blame Sig and the others over on the_ Northwestern_. To be honest though, they didn't have a lot to do with the whole thing other then approving it, letting me use the microphone and radio system and asking the Discovery crew to bug the ship and before you ask, no I don't know where they put the bugs. So please don't direct any of your anger or retaliation at them."

Andy was silent again.

"Look, if you want I can try to make it up to you and the boys some how and before you even think it, no not that way." I said. I quickly looked at his watch and realised the time. "Fuck! Sig's going to kill me for sure this time! I have to run and get back to the _Northwestern. _Think about okay. Talk to Sig when you have made your decision he will pass the message on, I hope. Good bye!" and with that I took off back towards the docks, leaving Andy behind. I felt bad but Sig would indeed have killed me if he knew how long I had been out and not working. Actually I'm pretty sure he probably already had the plans drawn up for it.

I made it back to the Northwestern just before the others came back from town. I have no idea what they did while I was gone and while Sig and I were chatting, and I probably don't want to know. We unpacked the truck quietly not saying a word. I was too scared what some of them would say, knowing that I was still on the boat, Edgar in particular. Sig could explain why I was still here, I wasn't going to say anything.

After about a half hour of unpacking the truck and stowing everything where they needed to go on the boat the sun had already set and the men had gone to the staterooms to get changed. I sat at the galley reading a book that I had purchased while in town some, just some trashy romance novel that I regret buying. I assumed that I wasn't going to be in town that even. Just before the men were about to depart Sig came down from the wheelhouse and spotted me reading my book.

"Why aren't you dressed?" he asked, startling me out of my imaginary world. I put the book down, pages up and looked at him confused. He was dressed as some Norwegian god, I wasn't sure what was going on.

"Dressed? Whatever for?" I asked.

"The party?" he simply said.

"What party?" The others then started to make their way out into the galley in their costumes. Matt was dressed as Batman, Norman was dressed as a vampire (of the non-sparkley variety), Nick just had an axe coming out of his chest (how he managed that I don't know) and Edgar was dressed as a zombie.

"The _Time Bandit_ Halloween party. Every year they host a Halloween party because we are normally out at sea for Halloween." Said Matt heading over to the kitchen to get the others some coffee.

"Oh, I see. Well sorry to disappoint you guys but in Australia Halloween isn't celebrated like you guys do over here. Very occasionally we would get a child dressed up and come around for lollies but thats about it. No big Halloween parties, well at least not in my town. I don't have a costume. Sorry guys."

"Yes you do!" I heard Jake exclaim from the stateroom, I wondered why he hadn't come out yet. "You have the siren suit. Go put that on." I looked at Sig, after what we had discussed earlier it may not be the best of idea's to take me to the Halloween party, least of all in the siren suit.

"Sig? It's your call. I don't want to make things too awkward with the other crews. It was bad enough that I ran into Andy in town this afternoon."

"What did you say to him?" asked Sig.

"That I wasn't going to apologise and that he and his crew don't take it out on you guys. It's my fault and you shouldn't be made to suffer for my idiocy." Sig nodded and looked at the others.

"Go put it on, I'll be up in a minute to zip you in and bring you down." Said Sig.

"You're sure?" He nodded and I made my way off the bench and headed up to the stateroom. I grabbed the suit out that I had placed away in the head to dry out after being in the harbor earlier that morning. It was still a little damp but it was bearable and I was lucky that I didn't get the flu from being wet. I had manged to get part of the suit on and had covered everything by the time that Sig came up to help. I allowed him into the room after he had knocked on the door.

"Are you sure this is okay?" I asked as he came over and moved my hair out of the way and over my shoulder.

"I'm sure." He said as he pulled the zipper up.

"I'm worried Sig. I don't know what is going to happen. I really think that this is a bad idea and that I shouldn't go, especially in the mermaid suit." I held out my hand for the hairbrush that I had placed on the table. Sig handed it to me and I started to brush my hair.

"We pretend it is all part of the plan." He said. I looked at him over my shoulder, a questioning look thrown in his direction. "I've spoken with the others. I've been thinking about it this afternoon. If we go in with you in the mermaid suit it will show that indeed it was a prank and that you are actually part of this crew. I'm sure the guys would love to get photos with 'the siren'. You can then also explain to everyone on the _Bandit _and _Cornelia_ what happened." He answered my unasked question. I place the brush back down.

"If you say so Sig. While I don't completely understand why you want to do it this way, I will accept and do as you asked." Give me a couple more minutes just so I can grab a few things and then we can make our way to the car. I'll need you to grab them for me since they are now out of my reach. I can't believe I forgot to get them first." I physically wanted to slap myself for forgetting all about the need to pack for the bar. I directed Sig to either pass me a bag or to go through it and find what I was asking for while I was trying to find another small bag to carry everything in since the last one I had is now laying on the bottom of Dutch Harbor. Finally though we managed to find everything, and I managed to make Sig blush a couple of times as he looked through my bags and found my nightwear and undergarments instead of what he was actually asked to look for.

Sig picked me up and carried me bridal style down the stairs and into the now deserted galley. We made it on deck before Sig had to put me down so he could lock the boat up. I noticed a lack of crew members on the deck or docks so I assume they had already left for the party.

"Where was Jake? I didn't see him and his costume." I asked as Sig locked the boat up. Sig turned and was was smirking.

"Jake lost a bet earlier this year and he had to wear a special costume this year. I image that he is just too embarrassed to show you while he is sober. I know I wouldn't want to be caught dead in what he is wearing." He picked my up again and this time made it all the way off deck and to the truck before he put me down again in the truck.

"Honestly, it can't be any worse then Edgar being stripped and put in lacy women's underwear now can it?" I asked just before Sig shut the door after making sure my 'tail' was inside the truck. I was left to contemplate what Jake could actually be wearing as he walked around the truck and to the driver's side of the vehicle and as he opened the door that was when it hit me.

"You can't be serious? Is Jake is actually wearing what I think he is to the party?" Sig looked over at me and gave me the look that said that he wasn't going to be telling me and that would have to wait and see. I pouted and crossed my arms while trying not to laugh my head off as we made our way to the Elbow Room. As we pulled up I began to get nervous. This would be the first time that I would officially meet the various crews of the other boats in the Alaskan fleet and I hoped that they would not hold this prank against me.

"Right so this is how this is going to work." Said Sig as we parked in front of the the Elbow Room. "I'm going to place you just outside the door and after a few minutes you are then going to knock on the door and someone will come out and get you. I'll try to make sure that Junior is closest to the door as soon as I can. You can sing if you want, that will just freak them out even more, especially the _Bandit_ boys, it's your call. Just don't sit out here too long okay? I can only stall for so long so don't wait okay?" I nodded.

"Alright." Sig exited the truck and came around to grab me. We made our way to the side of the building where he placed me down.

"Good luck. See you in a few." I gave him a small smile and he turned and left to go inside. I waited outside and while it wasn't very cold, it was a little nippy and I was thankful that the mermaid suit was made of neoprene. After about five minutes I started to shimmy my way across to the door. I decided to forgo this singing as by the sounds that I was hearing out hear they wouldn't hear me anyway. I found a medium sized stone and picked it up to rap on the door loud enough so they could here me inside.

I knocked three times and immediately the sounds from inside quietened. So I knocked three more times and finally the noises completely stopped. And still no sound came through the cracks in the building. It seemed like everyone inside was waiting for something yet not knowing what they were waiting for. Ii shook my head and started singing anyway but stopped after a few moments when I heard the sound of heels taking misplaced steps. I looked up at the door and scooted back to avoid being hit by it but yet still be seen from inside. The door opened and a burst out laughing, hugging my sides as I fell backwards.

There stood Jake Anderson and if Sig hadn't of told me that he would try to make sure that Jake was the one to open the door I would have wondered who this man was because Jake looked nothing like himself. He was wearing black platform shoes, fishnet stockings, a corset and a black curly wig. I couldn't stop laughing.

Jake Anderson was dressed as a scarily accurate Frank 'n Furter.

10


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it has taken nearly 4 months to get the chapter out, but a combination of a musing muse, working on ATC: Caught! and going away to Sydney for a month took its toll on NW-C. BUT here is a new chapter for you all to enjoy - and enjoy i'm sure you all shall! **

* * *

**C****hapter Seven**

That night was an interesting experience. I finally got to officially meet the crews and captains of the other boats in the fleet and of course lots of drinking was involved. Once I was over my laughing fit at Jake's attire for the evening and bruising his pride a little, he took pity on me being out in the cold air and carried me inside. He placed me gently into the booth where the others were seated and went to the bar. I had to stifle a small giggle as he walked away. I finally looked around the bar and noticed several people looking our way, more correctly looking at me and it wasn't hard to guess why.

"So what have I missed?" I asked the crew as I settled into the booth waiting on Jake to come back with drinks.

"Oh you know, only the whole bar cracking up at Jake and wondering why there is a mermaid in the bar. The usual." Said Edgar waving his hand dismissively.

"Oh? Just the usual? Must I remind you that what might be considered _normal_ for you is probably very foreign for me as I am _not_ from around this side of the pond." I said, crossing my arms over my chest and mock-glaring at Edgar.

"'This side of the pond' what are you English now?" asked Matt, downing a shot. "I thought only the Brits said that."

"I grew up in the Commonwealth, part of our flag is English you know. It's only fair to say that we still have some of their sayings and habits." Jake finally returned with a round of drinks for everyone and handed me a glass of vodka and coke. I gave a small grimace at the drink, not wanting to remember what happened the last time I drank. The last time I drank I somehow ended up on the other end of the earth about to face a danger I could never dream of even in my nightmares.

"Not to mention your anthem is written by a Pom as well." Said Sig. My mouth dropped.

"Actually he was from Scotland and I'm sure that as a Scotsman he would take offence to being called a Pom." I said, more then surprised that he knew that detail about Australia, since it was even a little known fact in my home country that he was was from the United Kingdom and even fewer knew he was Scottish. Many thought that he was either Australian (which I should have to say he later did become) or was British, which is really a technicality.

"Pom, Scot. Same difference." He dismissed with a sip of his drink. I frowned at him. I might not be a Pom, or a Scot but still I felt like I had to set him in his place.

"Norwegian, Swed. Same difference." I challenged him. All movement at the table stopped, even the table behind me stilled in their movement, as everyone eyed me as if I had sprouted a second head. Edgar and Sig looked pissed, but not as pissed off as they had previously been throughout the day, even Norman was a little put out at my comment.

"There is a BIG difference between us and the Sweds." Said Edgar, intruding into this fight. Family pride was on the line now however I stood my ground against him and his brothers.

"And there is a BIG difference between a Scotsman and a British man." I retorted. "If you so wish to define yourselves differently from the other Scandinavian countries then it should so stand that you should at least acknowledge that there is a difference between and Scot and a Brit. While they live on the same land mass that is collectively known as the United Kingdom they are still very different society with their own history. Just like the Norwegians and the Swedish live on the same landmass and yet are two completely different societies." I had suitably stunned the men into a contemplative silence. Maybe they were even a little contrite - at least I hope they were.

"Why do you care so much?" asked Jake, breaking the stupor around the table. "After all, you are neither British or Scottish." I looked over to him and gave a little thought about my answer.

"I think it has to do with the rivalry that us Aussies have had with the Kiwi's for years. One hates to be called the other, It's a matter of pride." I said. "While I was in Seattle do you know how many times I was mistaken for a Kiwi? We sound very different to you yanks for sure, but people group us together because we are in the same geographic region. Take ANZAC for example. Do you know what an ANZAC is?" The men were quiet for a moment.

"A solider." Said Nick. "An Australian solider." I shook my head.

"While you are partly correct, it's actually an Australian AND New Zealand solider. Many people seem to forget that the Kiwi's also fought under the ANZAC banner back in WWI. There weren't as many Kiwi's as there were Australian's, sure, but they were still grouped together - classed together - but they were from two completely separate countries."

"Just like the Sweds and the Norwegians." Said Norman. I gave a small smile.

"Exactly." I took a sip of my drink, trying not to show the the men how smug I was that I finally one up-ed them. "Now on to other topics, who is that man over there that is staring so hard at me, plus the guy behind me who I can feel his eyes boring into me?" I lifted my glass and carefully motioned to a man sitting in the corner of the room showing the guys who I was talking about without drawing his attention. Nick who was sitting next to me was the first to spot him and almost growled.

"You mean the young one with the 686 hat on not quite right?" I nodded discreetly and he continued. "That's Elliott Neese. He's a deckhand on the Rambling Rose. Has aspirations of becoming it's captain one day. Don't know him that well. He's around Junior's age. That's all I can tell you."

"Yeah, he wants to be a captain. He's working on his licence last I heard. From Homer." Said Jake, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, it didn't take a genius to know that the hot pants, if they could be called that, were riding up his arse making him very uncomfortable. He clarified when he saw my confused look. "Homer Alaska, about a five day steam out of here. Lives close by to the Hillstrand clan if I remember right. Scott Hillstrand, John's son, might be able to tell you more, they almost grew up together I guess you could say. Scott's the around the same age as us."

"I need to get a book on Alaska I think! Hell I need a map of the US tattooed on my arm just to know where you guys are talking about." I joked. "I'm gonna get so lost when we hit the beach after opies, is it?" I asked Sig, making sure I had the correct term. Opies, Kings, Red, Blues, Gold, Bardi, Tanner it was pretty much all Greek to me. Well, not really since I know Greek but you get the idea.

"After Opies? I think you mean after King crab Teya." Said Matt. I shook my head.

"No after Opies. Between King and Opies I will be more then busy due to the little 'stunt' I pulled this morning. But we shan't discuss that here, not while I know we have eavesdroppers. Now Norman who is the person behind me that I can feel staring at me from behind?" Norman peered around slightly to see who it was.

"Johnathan." I sighed, I should have known.

"You better tell him to come over. I've already apologised to Andy. May as well get the other brother out of the way as well. Hopefully before he drills holes into my back." Edgar nodded and shoved Jake off the bench telling him to get another round and to tell John to come over. Jake protested a little but left the table anyway heading towards the mens room, I'm guessing to 'readjust' himself before coming back. It wasn't long before Edgar and Matt were pulled into a game of pool in the back corner while I wished I could go join them leaving Norman, Nick and Sig sitting with me. Nick not being able to leave due to me being in the way. We were chatting about what I should expect in the coming trip when I felt someone standing behind me.

"Hey Phil, how are you? Everything ready to leave tomorrow?" said Sig, greeting the other captain and inviting him to take Matt's seat next to him in the booth.

"Hey Sig, thought I better come over and say hello and talk to you about what happened this morning." Said Phil looking directly at me with those piercing eyes of his. I can't deny that I didn't blush a little, since I was slightly embarrassed about the whole thing and hell, I'm not going to deny that Phil was a excellent specimen of the male species, even if he was old enough to be my father.

"Yeah. I can't take credit for that one. Wasn't my idea." Said Sig. "It was all Teya's." I ducked my head a little in embarrassment and fingered the rim of the half empty glass, making that little chiming noise which was lost in the frivolity happening around the room.

"Teya eh? You didn't properly introduce yourself this morning." Said Phil.

"Sorry about that. All I can say in my defence is that I didn't have the time to do so since mister busy-body over here had to interrupt our meeting this morning." I said, pondering if I should extend my hand over the table or not to shake his hand, so I kept my hands busy with the glass I had.

"Understandable. We should correct that now. I'm Phil Harris. Captain of the _Cornelia Marie. _It's the boat that pulled you out of the harbour this morning." I laughed a little at the comment, more out of nerves then anything else.

"Pleasure to meet you Captain Harris. I'm Teya Jansen, Captain of the _F/V Asphodel _and the new greenhorn on the _Northwestern_." Phil looked over at Sig to confirm that I was indeed the who I said I was. Sig nodded.

"_Asphodel _eh? Don't think I've heard of that boat on these waters." Said Phil, taking a sip of his drink.

"I doubt you would have, Captain." I said to him. "As you can probably tell by my accent I'm not from around this side of the pond … don't you start up again on that point Sig. I trounced you once I can do it again." I gave my captain a mock glare and he raised his hands in mock surrender.

"I wasn't going to say it." He said. I gave Sig the evil eye before continuing.

"The _Asphodel _is my boat back in Australia. Long-line Tuna mostly. Sometimes will go out just to go for a few days out of town and just cast a line over the side with a good book in hand during the off season."

"Long-liner eh? I've really only stuck to crabbin' for most of my life, did try other styles a long time ago." He said. Phil then looked up as he spotted John and Andy nearby and waved them over. Greetings were exchanged, even if my formal introduction with John was a little frosty, not that I can blame the guy. "I called you guys over for a reason. Thought you better know this as well. So Teya, I gotta ask, what's with the mermaid suit?"

"Long story?" I joked. I shrugged my shoulders. "When I first came over to the States to work, Jake explained to me all about the prank war and that we needed something to out-prank the _Bandit_ boys with that they would never have suspected or thought of. I decided to play the siren. Back in my home port we have the Seaside Fair every March and every year one of the sixteen year old girls gets crowned the Sea Maiden. She then has to get dressed in a mermaid costume and swim around the harbour 'blessing' the boats for another year of good fishing and protection. Afterwards the Sea Maiden is paraded through the town on a float that is designed as a seashell carriage. I was crowned Sea Maiden back when I was sixteen and had to do the ritual. It was the most humiliating thing every. That float was so tacky! That year it was hot pink with bright purple spots and horrid neon green stripes. I swear the committee did it on purpose. Normally the float is really nice looking in differing shades of whites, pale blues and golds which makes it look quite regal." I shook my head at the horrid memory of that ghastly float and got back to the topic at hand.

"But I digress, when Sig asked Jake to pick up some things from the store to try to prank the _Time Bandit_ with when for some reason that memory came to me and I just knew I had to do it. I'd been pondering it for a little while actually and when Sig gave the okay it was full steam ahead. Mind you Sig was wary about going through with it."

"As I should have been. It was more then evident that my worry was more then necessary the first time you went into the water yesterday afternoon as the _Bandit_ came in." Said Sig. All I could do was sigh, I didn't want to bring up the argument we had had again.

"What happened?" asked John, going where I had hoped not to go.

"She nearly drowned in the harbor. About a hundred feet from Trident. Mild Hypothermia and exhaustion." I rolled my eyes.

"Exhaustion thank you very much. Do you know how hard it is to swim in this thing?" I plucked that the suit that I was wearing. "This suit is so much heavier then the last one and thats when it's dry. Try swimming in it! It's like trying to swim in one of those survival suits and the only reason I could was because I was able to make it so skin tight that it made it easier to swim in. That and the material is not a 'floaty' as the actual suits. Now can we please get off this topic and onto something else?" I asked. Phil was the one to change the topic, well slightly.

"I think it was an excellent prank. You fooled everyone and I think it is only fair that I get a photo withe the Queen of Pranks as she is currently." He said, getting out his phone and unlocking it. "Here Andy take a photo of us."

"Before you do though, can I get out please? I need to use the mens and should probably go check on Jake. He hasn't come back with our drinks yet." Said Nick who was still sitting beside me.

"Sorry Nick, sure if someone is willing to help me up while you get out I can let you through to do what you need to do. It's kinda awkward to even stand in this thing." I said shuffling to get out of the bench. Andy was kind enough to give me a hand, it seemed like most of the animosity had left. At least for now. After a few minutes Nick and Norman managed to get out of the booth and a chair was grabbed from a nearby table for Phil to sit on with me on his lap in order to take the photo and it wasn't long before the whole place wanted to get photos.

I was passed around the guys in the bar who had line up once they realised that the 'mermaid' was having photos taken with the crews, being handled with the gentleness of a china doll and posed for photos with the Bering boys. Funnily enough it was an excellent way to get free drinks (not that I drank any to be on the safe side) and to meet the rest of the crews. There were a couple of unsavoury fellows who did try to feel me up, but that was quickly taken care of by a slap and a sharp glare from not only myself but from Sig and Edgar, who had rejoined us after he noticed what was going on and were the two brothers were playing bodyguards. Norman I knew wasn't too far away either, keeping watch from a distance.

It was about an hour later that I finally called it quits for the impromptu photo shoot. Only stopping for two more photos. The first was a photo of the _Northwestern_ crew in their Halloween get up for the Elbow Room. And the other ended up being a group shot of the DC fleet in our Halloween get up for Discovery Channel. It was a little scary getting this photo done. Half the crew were sitting or kneeling on the ground the others were standing however I was to lay on my side and the men who were standing were holding me up so I was clearly visible as if I were the 'catch of the day'. Kind of like one of the photos you'd see on the wall of a local fishing cafe where a group of people were showing off their biggest catch. It was good fun though.

Edgar carried me back to the car that evening and drove Norman, Nick, Matt and myself back to the boat so we could get some rest before we headed out to the crab grounds in the morning. When we reached the dock it was Norman this time who took me to my new quarters. Sig's quarters.I had totally forgotten about the fact that I was now to use Sig's stateroom as my own.

Norman placed me gently on the lower bunk to sit down and I turned my back to him asking if he could unzip the back, which he did before wishing me a good night and heading back downstairs to his own stateroom to get ready to hit the sack. I slipped off my suit, grabbed my clothes and hairbrush and went to the head attached to the Stateroom, closing the door just in case Sig decided to walk in while I was getting changed and it was a good thing that I did because only after a minute of getting changed, I heard Sig come into the stateroom and start to undress.

Once I had finished brushing my hair and was now ready for bed I waited a moment before knocking on the door to ensure that Sig was decently attired. I didn't want our first night of being bunk buddies to be awkward. Luckily (or unluckily if you prefer) he was decent in his flannel pj's and making up the lower bunk for me to sleep on. It was more of a bench then an actual bed, but it was big enough for me to sleep on rather then him.

"So this is how it's going to work." He said jolting me out of my stupor of sleepiness. "I'll be on top and you on the bottom." In my sleepiness I have to admit I interpreted that a little wrong. Damn being stuck in the pub with lots of excellent specimens of the male species. I'm not ashamed to admit that my mind did go to a couple of dirty places throughout the evening.

"When I'm in the chair and you guys are resting, not that that's gonna happen much, you can take the top unless I'm taking a break and sleeping. The bed up there is more comfortable then the bench." He continued. I just nodded sleepily.

"What time do we need to get up to untie and set off?" I asked, settling in to the makeshift bed.

"We leave at eight." I nodded and snuggled down into the bed. I could hear Sig shifting around in his bunk.

"Alright then. Night Captain. I hope you don't snore." He switched off the light and muttered a good night.

* * *

I was woken that morning by a foot landing on my stomach and knocking the breath out of me. Said foot was quickly removed once they owner heard the sound of air leaving a body, or more then likely feeling that there was a person on the bench below. A light was flicked on as the I then had to shield my eyes from the intrusion of light as well as grasp my stomach.

"Fuck! I forgot you were down there." Was the greeting that morning. I just flicked my evil glare at Sig and continued to rub my stomach. "You alright? I didn't hurt you did I?" I rolled my eyes and sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the makeshift bunk, still rubbing my stomach.

"Oh, it wasn't so bad, I just got a foot in my goddamn stomach as a wake up call. You know an alarm clock would have sufficed. Just be thankful I'm not pregnant or you would have squished a baby right there." Sig got down from his bed, this time, thankfully, not stepping on any part of me, and knelt on the floor in front of me and brushed my hands away. Out of shock, and the fact that I was still sleepy I let him do whatever, as long as it didn't involve stripping down and having hot and rough sex right there on the bench, (and between you and me, even then I probably wouldn't have minded.)

He pushed my pyjama top up and held it just under my breasts running his fingers gently over my stomach, my body shivering slightly under his touch yet becoming warmer under his gentle caress. He looked up at my face while continuing to gently run his fingers over my stomach. At the time I didn't notice who moved closer to who, since my mind was filled with a mixture of sleepiness and lust but the next thing I remember we were almost nose to nose. His fingers had swept up from where he had stepped on me and up under my left breast, his other hand letting go of the top and moved to rest on my right hip, his thumb rubbing teasing little circles above the top of my pants and gently pulled me closer to him.

I wasn't sure who made the first move but I felt the gentle brush of his lips against mine, like a butterflies wings. I ran my fingers through his hair as he leaned in for a better kiss which I would have wholeheartedly accepted, except the spell that was woven around both of us was broken when the sound of footsteps on the staircase shattered the peace. Sig quickly stood up and backed away to the other side of the room, grabbing some clothes and ducking into the head, while I continued to sit on the bench slightly shell shocked at what had just happened. There was a knock on the door and Edgar poked his head in the room.

"Hey where's Sig? I thought we were leaving sometime today." I pointed to the closed door Sig and just fled through. Edgar's eyes quickly flicked to the door opposite him and back to me.

"Hey are you alright? You look a little pale." He said, coming into the room and sitting next to me on the bench. I just nodded and rubbed my stomach again.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I mumbled. "Someone decided to step on me as a wake up call by accident. Push the breath out of me." I looked over to Edgar and noticed that he was trying not to laugh. Trust him to take pleasure at someone getting hurt, if it wasn't serious.

"Yeah, that sounds like Sig. I remember when we where kids, He used to sleep on the top bunk while we were on holiday and in the morning he would step down and onto my fingers. Hurt to all fuck. I would later get him back by filling his bed with worms that I had dug up just before dinner." I had to laugh at that childhood memory.

"That was the lamest revenge ever Edgar." I said, standing up and going to one of my bags to grab a change of clothes.

"Hey, give me credit I was only four years old and was obsessed with worms." He said crossing his arms. Sig had finally decided to join us after getting changed and doing whatever in the head.

"Yeah you used to eat them as well." Said Sig, laughing at his younger brother. I shook my head at the two and maneuvered my way around Sig and towards the head.

"I used to remember someone eating snails when he was nine." Edgar retorted. I mentally imagined Sig rolling his eyes.

"It was a dare and I wasn't going to lose." Said Sig. "Especially to a baby." I shook my head as I closed the door to the stateroom and got changed. It was going to be a long day if the brothers were going to continue to argue like the children they were remembering.

* * *

It was two hours later and after a quick breakfast of eggs, bacon and tomatoes on toast the crew was doing last minute checks before throwing the lines. This year it was supposed to be Jake's turn to throw the lines but he had relegated that duty to me. Once we were given the all clear from Sig and the producers onboard that we were ready to go, then engines fired up I jumped up to the docks and threw the first line over the bow making my way down the dock to the stern, throwing the lines as I went.

"Hurry up, we're shoving off here!" came Sig's voice over the loud hailer and so I raced to throw the last line however I was running out of time and I would be left on the dock if I didn't get on the boat now. It was already starting to get too far away and there was no safe spot on the deck to land since it was covered with pots. The distance was already too far to mange with a standing jump so I quickly dashed to the other side of the dock and took it at a full on run. I could hear the men yelling at me to hurry. Remembering my days at school doing long jump at the athletics carnivals, I sprang forward and instead of landing in sand like you would when you were a kid, I managed to somehow grab a hold of the back of the pot stack. The men yelling out for me when they couldn't see me. I ignored them and started to climb the stack, swinging my legs over the top and standing up waving down at them.

"You cheeky little monkey!" yelled Edgar up to me. I just flipped him the bird and turned around to take a look at the first time I would leave Dutch Harbor for the greatest unknown to me - the Bering Sea.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

My first King Crab season. Holy fucking Hannah I honestly don't know how I managed to last the full month out there. I guess it might be due to the fact that the majority of the time I was hunched over the bait bin, slicing and mulching, packing buckets fulled with chopped herring and sliding in and out of pots. I know during cod season I did this kind of work but and other then getting bruises on my bruises I was okay. But out on the Bering Sea, fuck that's a whole other game. And due to my 'restriction' placed on my by Sig, I wasn't even allowed to go near the sorting table. Edgar took a little pity on me, that or they needed an extra set of hands every now and then, and called me over to help sort.

Honestly, it felt good to be back on the water and working as part of a team and not being stuck alone on a boat trying to do the job of multiple people. It was a different kind of hard work. People watch the show and see that we work hard, sure, but the show only manages to get a small percentage of what actually happens. I guess you could say it lies. Jake said watching the show would prep me for what we were going to do and that it was pretty accurate. Yeah take what you see and times that by like a hundred! It isn't easy.

The first few days the majority of us were holed up with seasickness. Yes, even those tough as nails deckhands who have been doing this for the majority of their life got seasick and I'm not ashamed to say I got seasick as well. It happens. Those few days were misery, anything I ate would come back up, even my miracle cure of vegemite on toast had little effect. It's just a natural process and after a couple of days we were all ready to rock and roll, catch that crab and hit the beach.

You can tell a good crew by the way that they work. It should come almost naturally the way that they move around on deck and around each other. On the _Northwestern_ they have an excellent crew. Edgar and quite possibly Sig would kill me if they knew I was comparing them to dancers, because that is exactly what they were doing. A very well orchestrated dance that they have perfected over the years and I was the bumbling new person knocking everyone over.

On top of working the bait station and the occasional sorting of crab I was also in charge of what we were eating. Three square meals a day or so the captain told me. We had to grind but we are still able to get some food in. I was thankful that I had the forethought to think ahead to make and freeze down stews and soups for the trip as there were times where we were on excellent fishing and even I didn't have time to make a decent meal. Although I never got to touch most of that for the first trip. I had to have the Edgar Special, fish head soup, for the entire first trip of the season. I think that it may have turned me off seafood for a while. Which is saying something cause I love fresh seafood.

Since this was my very first season I don't know what the norm is. To me it was chaos weather wise since I am used to more gentler weather then freezing cold water and strong winds. We were hit with a storm and had to dump the pots early on the way to the grounds. I had thought I had been in rough seas down in Australia but nothing compares to the fury of the Bering Sea.

As per normal on a fishing boat though there were the usual shenanigans that people do on boats to alleviate the boredom like Edgar making Jake wear a cod fish as a tail when he repeatedly forgot to wear his knife belt and the small pranks that fishermen do (yes even in Australia this thing is normal). But the most interesting thing that happened in my opinion when when the pulley on the picking hook broke and Edgar had to ride the crane to fix the block. I was seriously tempted to ask Norman to make the crane do a gentler version of a rodeo bull, but the weather was too nasty and to be honest I didn't really want Edgar to fall off.

The other fun, and I use the term loosely, thing that happened was when Sig and Edgar decided to see who could stay up the longest. It was like forty seven hours or something before a truce was called. Later we found out that Sig actually nodded off at the wheel. Those two days were hell, especially from Sig as he was getting cranky from the lack of sleep and somewhat okay, but not spectacular fishing.

During the weeks that we were out there it was easy to become closer to the guys, well at times. Jake and I were already on good terms, since we were both the new people on deck. I also became closer to Edgar and Norman as well. Edgar and I had finally put aside our differences that plagued our tendering days and got along well, to the point where Matt was calling us a married couple due to the amount of mild squabbling that we did on deck and when it was time to eat I would nit pick on the amount of food that he actually ate. I'm going to admit this now even though you probably have seen it already but yes there definately was some 'flirting' between the two of us while we were fishing.

Although there were times when things weren't so good on deck and it was obvious with the tension between Matt and Jake. I'm not going to deny this, even though they may not like me disclosing this but Matt is jealous that Jake is so eager to learn everything on deck and it actually came to blows on deck this season. I seriously believe that Jake would make a good captain when the time comes. This is me speaking from my few years of experience working with Jake and if I still had the _Asphodel_ I would have sailed it up here, made it over as a crab boat and given it to him to captain. But we will get to the story of the _Asphodel _a little later.

There obviously were injuries while we were out fishing. The cuts and the bruises are the norm on a boat but being slammed in the head by the picking hook? That would have hurt. I'm sure you all remember when Edgar got hit in the head with the hook as the boat rolled? It looked worse on the show then it actually was, well sort of. Yes it hurt and it could have been bad, but Edgar was fine, his teeth rattled and after a quick medical check to see if he was okay, yes even a kiss from me to make it feel better, he just went straight back to work while we kept an eye on him.

Our season lasted about four weeks. Four weeks of twenty hour days and four hours sleep. We were all so tired and I can't tell you how happy I was when we finally hit the beach after the final offload. The guys went to hit the showers and then the Elbow Room while I grabbed a set of keys to one of the utes, sorry I think you call them trucks here in the States, grabbed my bags as well as my hot chocolate/Milo tin and headed into town and booked a room at the Grand Aleutian Hotel for a couple of days.

After asking the staff if I could hijack their industrial laundry to clean the disgustingly smelly clothes that I had worn on the boat I went up to my room and immediately went to the bathroom. Inside was the best thing a girl could ever want after a long hard day's work - in this case a long, hard four weeks of work. A large bathtub and plenty of bubble bath. But first I had to have a shower since there was no way I was going to have a dirty bath of fish guts and who knows what else. After climbing out of the shower I didn't even bother drying off as I filled the bath up with the heavenly smelling bubbles and hot water and eased myself into the water and let the heat relax my muscles after being so wound up for the last month. A massage would have been nice right then but I couldn't have one of those right now. I was expected in the Elbow room later that evening to celebrate with the rest of the crew.

I lost track of time as I dozed in and out while soaking in the tub, not caring that the bubbles had disappeared. This was my time and there was no one who was going to interrupt me. Or so I thought and I was nearly asleep when it happened. I didn't hear the knock on the door to the room, nor did I hear the click of the lock and the opening and closing of the door and since I had thought that I would not be interrupted I had left the bathroom door open. I was woken up from my nap when I heard someone yell and close the bathroom door. The smell of diesel and fish wafting strongly through the room, and I knew it was someone from the boat since I had scrubbed and scrubbed to remove the smell from my skin. Well, mostly. I swear it took nearly a week before I stop smelling like the bait.

I quickly got up and grabbed a towel to wrap around me before finding the fluffy bathrobe that the hotel had so kindly left in the room. I opened up the door and found Edgar looking out the window trying to avoid looking at the bathroom door. I could swear that there was a slight crimson tinge to his cheeks, not that he would admit it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, making sure that the cord of my dressing gown was tied up tightly enough. "I was going to see you all at the Elbow Room later Edgar."

"Are you decent now and I don't mean in a towel either." He asked before turning around once I confirmed that I was wearing a bathrobe. "Sig called and asked if I could check up on you." I raised and eyebrow, I knew that Sig wouldn't call. I told him that I would be at the pub at eight, I had even set the alarm clock in the bedroom for seven pm before heading to the laundry to dump my clothing off.

"You're lying Edgar. Sig knows what time I was going to be at the Elbow Room and I know that I am not late as I set my alarm for well before the appointed meeting time. Tell me the truth." I said as I turned the kettle on to make a cup of coffee for him and a Milo for me.

"I'm not lying. Sig sent me." I looked over my shoulder and glared at him.

"Nice try Edgar. You have one more chance before I kick you out and go back to my warm bath." I turned back to the kettle as it clicked and poured the drinks. I wrapped my fingers around the cup to warm them up again and went and sat on the bed. I didn't bother handing Edgar his since I wasn't sure what he was going to do.

"Fine. Sig didn't send me. I wanted to talk to you alone." He said as he grabbed his coffee and sat at the small table in the corner. "It about how we were acting on the boat."

"Acting?" I asked, trying to think about what he could have been talking about before it hit me. He wanted to talk about the flirting. "You mean the whole married couple routine?" He nodded and I sighed, since I really didn't want to think about that right now. I had other more pressing concerns - like my bath that was going cold without me.

"Yeah. About that. I wanted to know what you thought it all meant."

"Edgar. I'm not going to say that you're not a bad looking guy, hell you are one of the hottest guys that I know." I noticed that he picked up a bit when I said that, men and their egos. "Honestly I don't know what happened on the boat and I don't know if you really want to talk about feelings. I know I don't. We've only known each other for just under six months now."

"Teya. I honestly don't care how long I've known you…" he started to say.

"Not to mention that for the first few months you treated me like crap." I pointed out, continuing as if he never interrupted me or that I was interrupting him.

"That's what we do to all the greenhorns." He tried to brush it off. "The new guy gets the flack."

"I know that Edgar, and I've been a greenhorn before and I know exactly how much flack they are supposed to get. What you were doing was more then just ribbing the greenhorn." I pointed out to him. It had been a while since I was a greenhorn but I still remembered what happened. It was even worse for me because I was a female and wasn't expected to make the cut. Edgar sighed and rubbed his hands over his head.

"No it wasn't. Seriously. I don't know what your fishermen do to your greenhorns over there but here we need to be hard on them. They won't make it if we go easy on them." I rolled my eyes.

"Edgar. Jake is as new to this as I am. Sure he had Opies under his belt but during tendering you were singling me out. Which is why we had the whole prank war. Which I won by the way." I said taking a sip of my hot chocolate, warming me up from the inside. The room wasn't cold per say, but it was definitely cooler then my bath, which my body was begging to go back into.

"The way you were behaving was like…." Then it hit me, they way he had been acting. All the fights, the pranks, taking me under his wing on deck behind his brothers back. The flirting, the 'married couple' Matt called us. "Oh my god. No! You can't be serious Edgar."

"What? Can't be serious about what?" he asked totally confused as to what conclusion I had come too. I sat on the bed gob smacked, mouth opening and closing in shock. I couldn't say a word. Edgar left his cup on the table and came and sat next to me on the bed, took the cup out of my hands and placed it on the bedside table. "Teya? Talk to me." I just kept looking at him, not able to speak.

"Edgar. You can't." I finally managed to get out, barely more then a whisper but since he was now sitting next to me on the bed he heard it.

"Can't what Teya? You're beginning to worry me." I shook my head, unsure if I was telling him that he shouldn't worry or that no I wouldn't talk or even just in disbelief, I think it was a combination of the three.

"Edgar. Do you remember when you were at school and there was a little boy who would always pick on a girl, pulling her hair for example." I watched as Edgar nodded. "Do you know why this little boy would always pick on the girl?" His eyebrows scrunched up a little as he thought of why that might be and why I was bringing up children's behaviour. I mentally rolled my eyes, men can be so obtuse.

"It was because the boy _liked_ the girl and was trying to get her attention." I stated and watched as he tried to understand what I was trying to tell him. It was obvious he still didn't understand.

"Edgar, you're the little boy." I watched as the invisible tonne of bricks hit him at the revelation.

"What? No I'm not." He protested. I shook my head and backed away a little to lean against the headboard.

"Think about it Edgar. Even when we first met. You were polite one minute then horrible the next. Teasing and pranking me. Sure you didn't pull my hair but everything else? You went out of your way during tendering to prank me. Even if they were annoying little pranks. You can't admit that you did that just just because you were bored or you were boosting morale because tendering was pretty easy compared to the season we just finished. If you did that during the King crab season I might have believed it was to boost morale but it wasn't. You ARE the little boy." I said, laying out all the cards on the figurative table.

Not a word was spoken between us as I let Edgar digest the information that I had given him, after all he had several months of memories to go over. I slid forward and off the bed, leaving him to his thoughts for a few moments while I went to the bathroom and pulled the plug to the bath that I was no longer able to have since it had now gone cold. I didn't hear him come up behind me, since I was wrapped up in my own thoughts as well. He came right up behind me and laid his hands on my waist over the top of my robe, slowly sliding them forward.

"And if I was?" he asked, his breath brushing over my right ear. "If I am that little boy and if I did like you like you think I do, would you let me do this?" The next thing I remember was the feeling of his lips gently running up and down my neck, hearing him inhale deeply and the feeling of him pulling me in closer to stand flush against him. I had no idea what to do. My mind had exploded into a million thoughts at once, each vying for my attention. That this was wrong, but at the same time it almost felt right. Was he doing this because we were on shore and were in the privacy of the hotel? Did he really, truly and honestly like me that way or was he just trying to get into my figurative panties (since I currently wasn't wearing any). What would Sig think of all this? Me kissing his younger brother, one of my employers? After all it definitely seemed as if there was attraction coming from Sig as well. From day one I was drawn to the blond Norwegian so were all those hidden thoughts actually reciprocated? All my thoughts vanished when I felt him turn me around and he kissed me full on the lips demanding entrance which I gave.

'_Oh god.'_ I thought. This was nothing like when I kissed his brother. It seemed like so long ago when Sig and I kissed back at the beginning of the season. While Sig's kiss was gentle and almost loving, Edgar's was full of heat and lust. I felt as his hands slipped forward and started tugging at the knot of my robe. When his cold fingers touched the skin of my stomach I was startled and pulled away, closing the robe tightly.

"Edgar!" I snapped at him, seemingly waking him from a dream. "You can't do this." It took a moment for him to comprehend what I was saying.

"Can't do what Teya? Kiss someone who I'm attracted too?" he asked, an undertone of irritation had crept into his voice.

"No you can't. You can't kiss me Edgar." I tied the robe back up and put my head in my hands, shaking my head in desperation. This was wrong, this couldn't be happening right now.

"Why?" he said, grabbing my wrists and pulling them away from my face. "Why can't I kiss you?" I looked into his eyes, pleading with him to understand.

"You know exactly why. You know how I came to be here from Australia. You know what is the only reason that I am able to stay here is."

"The stupid restriction from the VISA woman? You are seriously going to ignore any chance of happiness because of a restriction? Teya that's only if you want to get marr…" he said, still holding my wrists, stopping me from backing away. His grip was a little hard, which would leave red marks on my wrists if he held me any harder.

"Don't say it!" I said, panicking. "Please don't say it Edgar." Looking around the room as if someone was going to jump out and force me back to Australia at the very mention of the word. "I can't risk it. I can't fall in love with anyone. I can't fall in love with you. I can't fall in love with Sig. I can't…" he interrupted me before I could finish.

"'Fall in love with Sig'?" he yelled in anger. "What EXACTLY has happened between you and Sig?" he spat out, throwing my hands away and out of his grasp. For the first time I looked at Edgar in fear and backed away from him until my back was flush against the wall.

"Nothing." I whispered. "Nothing has happened."

"LIES!" he roared. "You've been sharing his stateroom all season!" I pressed further against the wall, wishing that the floor would open up and swallow me whole, that the wall wound break open and I could fall through and close it behind me. Anything to take me away.

"I never… when would we have had the time Edgar?" I whispered, however I knew he couldn't hear me, that he didn't want to hear me. Tears began to fall as I stood paralysed by fear.

"I'm sure you would have found the time. Maybe one the times you went inside to 'make dinner'. You certainly went inside plenty of times!" he yelled at me. "Leave. Don't come back to the _Northwestern. _You are no longer welcome." He spat before slamming the bathroom and hotel room doors shut as he left. Once he left I slid down the wall and cried. Not noticing or caring that the alarm I had set started buzzing in the adjoining room as soon as I was on the floor.

I didn't go to dinner that night.

* * *

The following morning I was awoken by a knock on the door of the room. I must have cried myself to sleep that night since I was still in the bath robe and laying on the cold tiles of the bathroom floor. I didn't want to get up, I didn't have the energy to do so due to the combination of the previous four weeks of hard work and the stress of last night. I vaguely heard another knock at the door before someone called my name. I ignored whoever was calling, hoping they would go away and leave me to my misery. Again I wasn't in luck as I heard the tell tale squeak of the front door opening. Vaguely I wondered how they were able to get into my room, since I supposedly had the only key, other then the hotel master key.

"Teya? You in here?" came Jake's voice through the bathroom door. "Teya?" he knocked on the bathroom door. At least he had more manners then Edgar did.

"In here." My voice cracked, sounding pitiful and knowing that I probably looked just as bad. Puffy, red eyes, matted hair and light bruises on my wrists. I stared at them vacantly, I didn't think he had held my wrists that tightly.

"Is everything alright?" I shook my head, knowing that he couldn't see it. "Do you need a hand?"

"Jake. Please." I moaned, not sure if I wanted his help or not. Unsure if I even wanted him to be here. Jake made the decision to come into the bathroom, after announcing that he was coming in he opened the door to find me on the bathroom floor.

"Teya!" he rushed over and knelt down in front of me and helped ease me up into a sitting position, making sure the robe stayed in tact. "What happened? Are you alright?" I shook my head. I didn't want to talk about it, not with Jake, not with anyone.

"Help me to bed please." My body was stiff and sore after spending the night on the tiles. Jake helped to ease me up and stand, helping to guide me to the bed that was still made. After turning down the linen and getting into bed, Jake turned and returned to the bathroom to grab my pyjama's that were sitting on the bench. He came back and handed the clothes and turned his back as I slipped off the robe and slid on the shirt and the panties before settling down in the bed.

"What happened Teya?" he said as he pulled a chair to the side of the bed, noticing that there were two cups of unfinished drinks, my Milo on the bedside table and the stale coffee on the table. "Who was here? Do I need to get the doctor?"

"Jake, I'm fine. I promise you." I whispered and I curled up in bed. "Just let me sleep please. You can go back to the boat, tell them I got sick. Anything, just please, don't come back. I'll call when I wake up, okay?" I said, even though I had no intention of doing so. Somehow I think he knew that I had no plans on calling back.

"I'll stay here till you fall asleep okay?" he said, brushing my hair away from my face, like a mother would to their young child. Not that I'm calling Jake a girl, but the gesture was comforting. "I'll make sure that nothing happens." He must have seen the light bruises on my wrists, I guess I couldn't play them off as being marks from the tape on the gloves, making sure that no water got into my work gloves.

"Thank you." I mumbled as I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off into a fitful slumber. The tapping sounds of Jake's phone fading away as I slipped into darkness.

* * *

"That's how I found her. I'm worried something happened to her Sig." Were the whispered words I first heard as I drifted back into consciousness from my short sleep. I didn't open my eyes, nor moved so not to alert Jake and apparently Sig to the fact that I was awake.

"I doubt that she will actually tell us and I don't think that the hotel staff will tell us who was in here. When she wakes up I'll check her over and make sure that she's okay, if we need to I'll get you to call the EMT's and maybe even the police. Don't worry Junior you did the right thing." Said Sig, sounding like he was sitting next to the bed.

"She's like one of my sisters Sig. I don't want anything to have happened to her." Said Jake, sounding like he was at the end of the bed and as I woke up more I noticed that there was a slight depression in the mattress from some weight. Jake was definitely sitting at the end of the bed.

"Jake, can you go down to the front desk and ask to get a light cold breakfast sent up please? Get a jug of orange juice and a jug of ice cubes as well please. We might need the ice if there is any bruising or swelling. Maybe a couple of extra towels. Thanks." I felt the mattress at my feet shift as the weight disappeared and heard as Jake left the room.

"You can open your eyes now. I know you're awake." I heard Sig say. I opened my eyes, shutting the briefly as the light blinded me for a moment.

"How?" I mumbled. "How can you always tell when I'm awake?" I looked over at Sig who was indeed sitting on the chair that Jake had pulled up to the bed before.

"Your eyelids flutter a little when you are pretending to be asleep. Like you are trying to keep them closed but not scrunching them up at the same time." He said leaning back in his chair a little. "I've had plenty of chances to study people when they are unconscious due to needing to make sure that they are okay and don't have a concussion. You pick up little things like that. It's how I knew when you had woken up after the siren incident and were pretending to be asleep."

"Oh." Was all I could say. I didn't bother sitting up, I just continued to lay in the bed under the protective coverings of the blankets. He gave me that look that he gives when he wants something, and I knew that he wanted to check me over. So I sighed and I pulled my hands out over blankets showing the bruises for his inspection.

"So, we missed you at dinner last night." He said as he looked over the bruises. He leaned over and rattled around in a plastic bag for a moment before pulling a tube of ointment out and started to gentle rub the cream on the bruises. "Do you want to tell me what happened? Or do I need to call the EMT's and the police." I shook my head, relaxing a little as he gently massaged my wrists.

"Just give me time Sig. Please. I'm alright." I said. "I don't need the EMT's. Nothing happened except the bruises on my wrists. I promise." I looked into his eyes, hoping that he understood that all I needed was to be alone right now. Unfortunately I seemed as if he didn't get the message or that he did and he just ignored it.

"Yeah, somehow I don't believe that." He said as he finished massaging my wrists and started to look for more bruising, not that he would be able to find anything since I was wearing my shirt. I knew that I had bruising from sliding in and out of the pots, but I didn't want him to treat them. Not after what happened with his brother last night. "See last night Edgar came to the Elbow Room all in a rage and actually had a drink and he's supposed to be stone cold sober. He was mumbling something about little boys and actually wouldn't talk to me or Norm. Can you see something wrong with this picture?"

I winced slightly when I heard that I had actually driven Edgar to the drink. I hadn't meant to do that at all.

"I sorry Sig. I didn't mean for that to happen. He came here last night wanting to talk about the season and there were some things said that I can't take back, not that I want to but I never thought he would act like that. That he would do what he did." I looked down at my wrists and rubbed them gently, avoiding Sig's gaze.

"What did you say?" he asked, and while I knew that he would need to know, it still wasn't his business, so i shook my head. "Teya, I need to know what you said and if it is going to affect the next season." I gave a dry laugh.

"Oh it is definitely going to affect the next season Sig. That I can guarantee you." I said, looking directly at him. "Edgar has made it all too clear that I am no longer welcome aboard the _Northwestern_. While I thank you for the opportunity to get my boat back up and running, I can't stay here anymore. Tomorrow I will catch the next flight out of here back to Australia and figure out some way to fix the engine. Keep whatever I earned this season, I know I owe you more then what I earned but its a start. I'll get the rest of the money to you as soon as I can."

"Teya. You are not going anywhere." He said a little harshly. "Whatever happened between you and Edgar, forget about it. Probably stress from the season and you both said things that you probably didn't mean to say." I gave that dry laugh again.

"I highly doubt telling someone that you can't fall in love with anyone counts as being something you didn't mean to say Sig." I noticed as a small of shock passed over his face and I continued my rant. "Exactly Sig. You know the exact reason why I can't fall in love. Edgar knows this as well, yet he still fucking kissed me Sig! And God! I wish I could admit that I hated it, that I wished it was you who I wished was kissing me like he did, especially since you kissed me before the season started. Fuck! I know you aren't so blind as to know that I fancy you, but Edgar last night! God! Things are all so screwed up!"

Silence followed my little rant. I knew that Sig was still trying to digest everything that I had just said. That not only did I fancy him, more then I probably should, but that Edgar was also on my radar too. That I would eventually have to make several major choices if I stayed in the States. To stay on the boat, or not to stay on the boat? Edgar or Sig? To stay here or go back? What I didn't know at the time was that my decision on the last point was already made for me, and not by someone you would expect.

"Teya…." I shook my head.

"Don't say anything Sig. This is one of those things that I have to do for myself and I don't want to hurt anyone. So for now I think it would be best if I go back to Australia as soon as I can." I said. I know it seemed like I was trying to run away, and sure I probably was, I needed time and space away from the guys to sort everything out…even to the point of coming back for Opies.

"Teya you can't leave." Said Sig, I nearly didn't hear him since he said it so softly.

"You can't stop me Sig. Even if you said you loved me right now you wouldn't be able to stop me from leaving." I said looking away from him and out the window watching as it gently began to snow outside. To me seeing snow in November is a little odd, but up here it does happen.

"That's not it Teya. You can't leave the States because if you go back to Australia you'll get immediately arrested." My head snapped to look back at him, eyes wide.

"What? You better be fucking joking Sig." I hissed, my voice hard. Sig shook his head.

"I wish I was joking. I received a phone call on the boat last night from the police in New South Wales. There is a warrant out for your arrest should you step on Australian soil. They are currently petitioning for an extradition order to get you sent back to Australia."

"On what charges?" I asked, my hands beginning to shake so I grasped the covers.

"Manslaughter. Apparently your brother died while we were out fishing a couple of weeks ago." I went as white as the sheets that I currently was grasping onto as if they were my last lifeline.

"How?" I dreaded to hear the words, fearing that I already knew what he was going to say.

"The _Asphodel _sank while your brother was on board."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

After Sig told me about my brothers death and how I was at least wanted for questioning, along with the very real possibility of a manslaughter charge, I did what any girl would do under such circumstances. I fainted. I came too only minutes after passing out. Turned out I was holding my breath and I hadn't realised it at the time. When I woke again Sig was sitting on the bed gently shaking me.

"You okay?" I nodded slowly. Sig backed away a little, still sitting on the bed next to where I was laying down.

"As okay as I can be I guess." I answered, I rubbed my hand over my eyes. "It's been a rough twenty four hours I think and I'm just about ready to go jump in the harbour if my life doesn't stop crashing down around me. What am I going to do now Sig?" I wanted to have my own one man pity party right then but Sig wouldn't let me.

"Hey, it will be alright." He said, shifting uncomfortably on the bed. "We'll figure something out, get you a lawyer. I won't let you get stuck in a gaol cell for something you didn't do." I looked up at him, a gave a sad smile.

"Thanks Sig." I said, I was just about to reach for the phone when there was a knock at the door. I sat up and Sig went to open the door revealing that Jake had come back with the food that Sig had asked for before as well as bag of ice. "Hey Jake."

"Hey Teya. Glad to see you up." I gave the boy a small smile.

"Sorry to have scared you like that Jake, I didn't mean too." I said as I started picking at the toast that Sig placed on my lap. Jake sat down on the end of the bed like he had before while Sig sat back in the seat he occupied before.

"Hey, you're my sister Teya. I'll always worry about you. You gave me quite a scare, I'll admit it. You okay?" I nodded, still munching on my toast.

"Hey Jake, can you get the others up here? Theres something we need to discuss, all of us." Said Sig. Jake nodded and left the room, pulling out his phone.

"Must we Sig?" I sighed, placing my toast back on my plate and pushing the tray away, and fidgeting in the bed at the thought of Edgar coming back up here.

"Hey, your the one with a manslaughter case against you." He said, pushing the tray back. "Eat. That's an order. Besides what happened with Edgar has no affect on what is going to happen here. We need to sort out what we are going to do. As I said, I'm not going to let you go to gaol for something you didn't do. I got the number of the police officer who called from Australia and we can give them a call to get you up to date while we wait for the guys to get their lazy arses up here." He handed me a slip of paper and went to grab the phone from the cradle and a pen and paper while I sat and ate my breakfast. Handing the phone over to me I sighed and dialed the number.

"Good evening, New South Wales Police. This is Senior Senior Constable** Mathews. How can I be of assistance?" came a female voice with the familiar Australian accent that I hadn't realised I missed.

"Yes, Good Morning, I mean evening, officer. My name is Teya Jansen. I'm returning a call an officer made in regards to a case that I am supposedly involved with." I could hear her tapping away at a keyboard.

"Miss Jansen, you said?" she asked, the tapping on the stopped. "Can I confirm your identity please? Name, age, date of birth and current address please?" I sighed wearily as I gave the details, pausing for a moment on current address.

"Which address would you like? The postal address in Australia, the name of the vessel that I lived on in Australia, the postal address here in the United States or the name of the vessel that I am currently living on in the United States?" There was a pause on the other end of the line, and I rolled my eyes at Sig who shook his head before getting up and making a cup of coffee for himself.

"The postal address in Australia will do for now." I answered her with the address and asked what was going on.

"Based on what I can see of your file Miss Jansen you are wanted for questioning in regards to the death of Mr. Even Meyers. Can I organise a time for you to come into the station to speak with the lead investigator in the morning?" she asked, tapping away at her keyboard again.

"I can't come in to the station anytime soon since I am not even in the country right now. I'm currently in Alaska having just finished work for the season." I could practically hear her eyebrows rise.

"Alaska? As in United States of America Alaska?" she asked and I seriously had to wonder if she was blonde.

"Yes as in the United States of America Alaska, what other places do you know of that are called Alaska?" I quipped back, before realising that I had just spoken back to a cop. There was another knock on the door and I watched as Sig got up to let the others in. "Sorry, I've had a rough month of work."

"That could pose a bit of a problem then." I noticed that Sig motioned for the men to be quiet while they got a cup of the vile drink each and settled in around the room. Jake back on his spot on the bed, Sig on his seat, Norman and Nick on the lounge, Matt at the table on the other chair and Edgar leaning against the wall staring pointedly out the window.

"I'm sure that if you look carefully at my file it says that I am currently overseas and have been since June. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trading as well as the United States Embassy can confirm that, after all you called my _boss _last night trying to find me. What I don't understand why I am needed for questioning for possible manslaughter." I watched as each of the guys heads lifted at stared at me, except Sig, who of course already knew. I heard her clicking away at the keys again.

"I'm afraid I don't have the clearance to access that part of the file. You would need to call back again during business hours to talk to the investigator in charge of the case." I ran my hand through my hair, tugging lightly at a snare.

"Unfortunately I don't have the time to call back later, is there any way you can get the investigator on the phone to talk to me now. Cause this call is going to cost me a fortune at the rates that I'm paying at the moment." The officer continued to tap at the keyboard.

"I'm sending a dispatch notice to the investigator now, if I can get a number to contact you on I can get them to call as soon as they arrive at the station. Thats the best I can do at the moment. Sorry." In my head I wondered how this woman even got to the rank of Senior Senior.

"Hang on a moment." I told the officers before addressing the guys in the room. "What's the phone number for the hotel and how do I get them to patch a call through to my room?" Edgar grabbed the hotel book off the table and threw it on the bed, upon opening the cover the instructions were on the first page. I nodded back to Edgar in thanks and relayed the instructions back to the officer.

"Thank you. Please don't leave the phone as the investigator will be here within an half hour to an hour, so expect a call soon."

"Great so does that mean I get to go down to the buffet and eat breakfast now?" I asked sarcastically, having already finished my meal that Sig had ordered Jake to get for me and was no longer hungry.

"If you make it no longer the fifteen minutes, I'm sure you will have the time to get something to eat. I'll let you go, please stand by for a call from the inspector in charge. Have a good evening."

"Yeah good morning to you to." I hung up the phone "You good for nothing bitch." I muttered after I was sure that the line was dead. I handed the phone back to Sig to put on the hook before turning and facing the guys, all who still had some degree of shock on their faces.

"Good morning to you to guys." I didn't get an answer from any of them and silence filled the room for a few moments, with Edgar, Jake and Matt looking at me as if I had grown a second head.

"Manslaughter? What the fuck did you do in the last twenty-four hours?" asked Matt, breaking the silence. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Oh you know, got drunk, got into a car and drove over the top of someone. The usual. I can't really remember last night." I said quite seriously, looking to see if they actually believed me. Sig, Jake and Edgar all looked at me sternly knowing that I was lying. Matt, Norm and Nick however looked a little uncomfortable. "Calm down mutton man, I'm only kidding. It's got nothing to do with anything here in the States otherwise I'd already be behind bars right now. The cops in Australia wanted to ask me some questions about my brother's passing. Sig told me this morning that the _Asphodel_ sank a couple of weeks ago and my brother was on board the boat as it went down."

"Oh shit." Was the general response I could see in their faces but Jake was the only one who said it out loud.

"Sorry to hear about your brother." Said Norman. I turned and thanked him. While I was upset that my brother had died, right now I wanted to know why I was the one who was under investigation and why he was on my boat in the first place since I was the only one who had the keys to the wheelhouse.

"Sig can you call that lawyer up please. I know the whole 'anything you say will be used against you' deal but still I wish to advise them of the situation as well and get the advice. I still plan on speaking to the investigator though, I need to know what is going on. Guys, I know this is asking too much but can someone get onto a computer and see what you can find out about the sinking through the media and write everything down please?" I asked the men, Jake and Edgar both left to go downstairs and find a free computer to use. Norman, Matt, Nick and I were chatting quietly while Sig was talking to the lawyer on the phone, grabbing the contact details from him and organised with the hotel to conference call our room when the inspector rang.

It wasn't long before the phone rang and we all jumped at the sound. I took a breath and picked up the phone.

"Good Morning. Teya Jansen speaking."

"Good Evening Miss Jansen. This is Inspector Davis calling from the New South Wales Police Department of Investigations."

"Good evening Inspector, I'm sorry to have pulled you away from your family at such a late hour of the night but now is the only moment I have free for the time being."

"It's all right. I did tell Mr. Jansen, was it?" I corrected him. "Sorry Hansen, this morning that you needed to call me as soon as you got the message."

"It seems like no one told the officer I spoke to before about that. I have my lawyer on another phone so I may confer with them before answering any questions. I'm sure you are recording this am I right?" I paused and waited for his answer, which was affirmative. I gave the details of the lawyer so it was on record who was to represent me if needed, as well as the men present in the room as witnesses to my statement. "Anyway, what did you need to ask me? All I know so far is that my brother is dead on my boat which sank. Who is filing these charges?" I heard the click of the keyboard and the shuffling of paper.

"The charges are being filed by a Mr. Henry Meyers." I started swearing loudly, shocking the guys with my language, since they never really hear me swear.

"Miss Jansen? Do you know this man?" I wrote a short message out on the paper Sig had given me, explaining what was going on. Sig passed the message on to the lawyer.

"Forgive the language but yeah, I know the bastard. Henry Meyers was my father." I spat. "He lost the privilege of being called father when he disowned me several years ago. He flat out told me before I left for America that he wanted to kill me. His exact words were, and I hope you are writing this down Inspector Davis 'That piece of junk was supposed to fucking sink and kill you. I never wanted a fucking daughter and I especially didn't want one who would fish her goddamn fucking life away. Get the fuck out of here before I do what the fucking boat was supposed to do in the first place, you whore.' If anyway wanted to charge anyone with anything, based on that statement alone I should file charges of attempted murder or attempted manslaughter. I can give you plenty more examples if you wanted." Sig slid a piece of paper over which read '_Mr Andrews says you can put in a counter-claim against your father if that's true.'_ I shook my head, I honestly didn't want to drag this mess out but I would if I had to.

"So your father is saying that you are the reason why your brother is dead, since you owned the vessel, _Asphodel_ I believe, which sank with him aboard it. Can you tell me where you were on October 27th, 2007?" I rolled my eyes.

"Hang on a minute please, I need to check with the calender." I looked at Sig "What date was the offload in Akutan at the end of October and how long were we there?"

"October 31, Hallowe'en and it was 20 hours. Why?" I shushed him, mouthing that I would explain later.

"On October 27 I was in the middle of the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska on the fishing vessel _Northwestern_. We were four days out from our offload date on Akutan Island on the 31st. There were eight other people present on the boat at the time, the captain, five other deckhands as well as two Discovery Channel producers/cameramen. If you want the specific location of the vessel I'll have to ask the captain for permission to view the logs since I don't currently have them with me since I am in a hotel room and not on the boat. And if you want timestamped copies from that day of fishing you'll need to talk to Discovery."

"So you were not in the country then?" I rolled my eyes, didn't I just say that?

"No I wasn't. I haven't been in Australia since June. I'd need to check my passport for the exact date, my mind is a little overwhelmed with everything right now. What was my brother doing on my vessel anyway?"

"We have been unable to determine that right now. It appears though that Mr Meyers, your brother and Mr. Meyers, your father, were both on the vessel and that Mr Meyers Senior was the one to make the distress call." I raised my eyebrows and motioned for the notepad again to write all this down as well as mouthing to Sig to tell Norman to pass me my bag.

"That's very interesting you see, since I have the only key to the wheelhouse." Norman threw the bag over and I rummaged around looking for the keys, pulling them out and making sure that I had them in my hand. "I'm currently holding onto the only set of keys that the boat could possibly have. So you might want to ask Mr Meyers Sr how _exactly_ he got onto what was supposed to be a non-functioning vessel." I jangled the keys so that he could hear them.

"Non-functioning?" asked the inspector, I could hear him tapping away furiously at his keyboard. "Can you explain what you mean by non-functioning?"

"As in it wasn't working. The whole reason I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Alaska is because I came here to earn a lot of money, quickly, in order to fix the broken engine and generator. The vessel was and should have been unable to even leave the dock she was tied up to let alone even leave the harbour."

"That's interesting because Mr Meyers claims that you asked him to fix the vessel and take it for a test run while you were off on holiday's in the States." I began to feel my anger rising at my father. He had goddamn planned this, maybe not killing his son but actually sinking my boat. I wanted to know why.

"I can assure you that the conversation in question never happened and I have six witnesses on hand who can confirm this as well. And I am not here on holidays either. Check with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trading as well as the American Embassy as to what my VISA and Passport status's are. They should say 5-year temporary working VISA and not holiday VISA as well as the fact that I have yet to leave America." I heard tapping and looked down to the paper Sig was tapping on, there was another message. _'Andrews says that if you wanted he can try and look into ways to grant you early residency to try to avoid being forced back to Australia due to cancelled VISA.'_ I nodded back before putting my hand over the speaker end of the phone.

"Make sure that he is aware of the VISA conditions before proceeding." I took my hands off the speaker and spoke to the investigator. "If you can get divers to the wreck try and get them to look at the doors on the wheelhouse level. If he did what I think he did, Mr Meyers Sr would have tried to break into the boat through there. They were the weaker of the doors on the vessel. Look for forced entry, it should be immediately clear, even underwater, if the doors were broken into from the outside, it'll be easy to see if it were forced from the outside."

"Unfortunately we were unable to assess the wreak for damage. The coast guard diver managed to retrieve Mr Meyers Jr's body and we are still awaiting toxicology and autopsy results." He said. I sighed knowing that this was going to go nowhere other then down the shit hole quickly. "Mr Meyers Senior is also wanting to sue you for damages and is trying to claim the insurance on the vessel since he apparently owned it. The insurance agency however is not releasing the money since it the vessel in question is under police investigation and wont do so until the investigation is over." I motioned for Sig to give me the phone to the lawyer.

"Can you give me a moment please Inspector, I just need to talk to my lawyer for a moment. I'll put you onto one of the owners and the current captain of the vessel that I am working on here in Alaska. He should be able to confirm my location and any details you should need. I shouldn't be too long.' I handed the hotel phone over to Sig and started talking to the lawyer.

"Mr Andrews, sorry for taking so long and having to talk through Captain Hansen while I am on the phone with the inspector." He said that it wasn't an issue and that he had all the time in the world to try and sort out what was going on. "So I've just been informed that my ex-father is trying to get a hold of the insurance money for the _Asphodel_ by claiming that he owned it. I have the ownership papers as well as the insurance papers somewhere on board the _Northwestern_ with the rest of my gear, since I only bought the clothes that I needed to get cleaned or to wear with me to the hotel. Would you like me to forward them to you just in case?" I wrote down exactly what information Mr Andrews needed from me, thanking god the whole time that I had the forethought to bring the originals with me and leave copies on the boat so if something like this happened, or my father tried to falsify the records I could prove my claims with the original documents.

"I really don't want to drag this out either, Mr Andrews. If you can find some way to get this all sorted before Christmas that would be brilliant. I've given the inspector your contact details so if you can somehow organise a conference call, or for me to testify in court via phone, hell I'll go to Dutch Harbor's court house with a judge present to testify via video link if necessary, please do so. I really don't want to go back to Australia and deal with this." I said rubbing my head. Today was turning out to be the day from hell.

"I understand Ma'am." He said in the southern accent that most foreigners associate all Americans as having. "I'll be giving the inspector a call after you done speakin' with him to sort somethin' out and I understand you needin' it before the holidays are here. Capt'n Hansen is already done explainin' to me that you'd be goin' fishin' come the new year."

"Thank you Mr Andrews. I really appreciate it. I'll hand you back to Captain Sig is a second so I can finish talking to the inspector." I said, handing the phone back to Sig who was just finishing his statement for the record as well. "Sorry about that Inspector Davis. I needed to personally update my lawyer on the situation with regards to the insurance and ownership of the boat. I have the original documents with me here in Alaska just in case something like this happened."

"You expected your boat to sink Miss Jansen?" he asked.

"No I didn't. I meant that I expected that my father would try to pull such a trick to try and rob me out of one the only things I own and love. Do you have anymore questions that you need answering?" The inspector said yes and I spent the next half hour answering question after question about the boat and my relationship with my family, in particular my estranged father and my brother. I recounted the last time that I had seen my brother, which also happened to to be the same time that I met the boys form the _Northwestern, w_ho would all need to give a statement to confirm my whereabouts and what had happened that day. After my questioning was done I handed the phone to Norman so he could have his statement taken down as well, picking up my mobile phone and shooting a message to Jake to tell him and Edgar to get back here soon so their statements could be taken as well.

While I waited for the guys to finish with their statements I used my mobile phone to ring reception and ask for room service to be sent up for seven hungry, yes I was hungry again, crabbers as well as my clothes from the laundry. When it arrived I thanked the lady who delivered the clothing and the massive amount of food. I served up the food in equal servings and passed it around to each man, most of whom were quietly watching TV or were still surfing the Internet looking up information on the case. After eating I folded my laundry and placed it in my bag, carefully hiding my undergarments from the boys, ready to leave either to go back to the boat or via airplane to the mainland or even Australia if needed.

All up it was an hour later when the phone was finally handed back to me. I could tell that the inspector on the other end of the line was getting tired, it was nearing four am over there after all and I felt bad about keeping him away from his family at this time of night. I said my goodbye, letting him know that my lawyer was going to be in touch within minutes of my hanging up to discuss whatever it is that lawyers and police officers discuss. But by the sound of what the officer was saying, depending on the toxicology results from my brother's autopsy, I should be cleared and my father may be the one looking at gaol time since he may have made false statements to the police, committed forgery, trespassing, breaking and entering, stealing, destruction of property and the original manslaughter charge.

The inspector even hinted at the possibility of the option of filing charges for my own past history with the man I called father, since he could tell that there was more to the story about what happened in my younger years, that I wasn't saying over the phone and I didn't want to say with all the guys present. I didn't want to be treated like a china doll if they ever found out, and I'm glad that Sig never did. The officer was probably aware of the town and its reputation in regards to its women and children. The only thought going through my head when the officer was listing possible charges against my father was _'Karma's a bitch you fucking bastard, and you deserved every bit of what's coming._'

I finally hung up the phone after that two hour ordeal and sank back into the bed.

"Are we done now?" I asked, grabbing the pillow and hugging it as I lay on my right side. My left shoulder and arm were sore from holding the phone for so long, not to mention the workout that I had had that season. I looked over to Sig in the chair in front of me and who was now nursing his umpteenth cup of coffee, I'd lost track of the number he and the rest of the guys had, all I knew is I was running out fast.

"Not even close Miss Madam." I groaned and pulled the pillow I was hugging up and over my head, pretending to shut out the world, even if it was only temporary. Not even twenty four hours back on land and I have already been through two stressful situations. God, I needed a good massage right not to relax but I knew I wasn't going to get one. I heard several muffled chuckles through the pillow from around the room.

"Well can I at least get a decent amount of sleep and not on the floor this time, or at least som relaxing in before plowing headlong into yet another disaster that is waiting to unfold in the crazy life of Teya?" I said through the pillow, knowing that only those closest to me could hear. I felt the bed shift as Jake moved to get up as well as the sounds of some of the men leaving. I heard the door open and I just lifted my hand up and gave a wave to whoever was leaving, not taking my head out from under the pillow.

I only removed the pillow when I heard the door close, but kept my eyes closed for a little longer just trying to absorb everything that I had been told in the last couple of hours. When I finally opened my eyes I was surprised to still see Sig in the room.

"Sig?" I sat up, looking at him. "What are you still doing here? I thought you'd left with the others." He gestured over to the window and I turned and looked to see who else was still here. My heart sank when I saw that Edgar was still here. "Edgar?"

"The three of us need to talk about what happened last night before we all scatter for our time off. I don't want to come back for Opies with bad blood between the two of you, it will only cause problems on deck. You guys were lucky that Jake hasn't spoken of what he found this morning to the others yet. Everyone knows something is up between the two of you. Sort it out. That's an order." I stayed silent, not looking at either of them and I knew that Edgar was doing the same.

"Fine if you won't talk, then neither of you will be allowed back on the boat in January." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sig get up from his chair and head to the door. I broke the silence.

"Wait." I looked up and noticed that Sig had stopped, his hand on the door handle. "Please stay." I turned to Edgar who was still looking out of the window. "Edgar, you know as well as I do that my stay here in America is fragile at best. The VISA woman…."

"The VISA woman? You are going to blame this all on the VISA woman?" yelled Edgar, turning around and facing me for the first time. I scrambled off the bed and stood near Sig, just in case Edgar decided to try to grab me again.

"No I'm not! At least not everything on her! It's only partly her fault that I can't be with anyone!" I yelled back. "You KNOW why Edgar. You were here last night when I explained it to you!" I clenched my hands, nails digging into my palms.

"Yes, you clearly explained EVERYTHING to me Teya!" he yelled back, and I flinched. "You led me on the whole goddamn season. I told you I was attracted to you!"

"And I told you I can't fall in love with anyone!" I yelled back.

"No you can't MARRY anyone Teya, there is a difference." He said, this time not yelling and stressed the word married. "Teya…" I sighed, and ran my fingers through my hair again.

"Edgar please don't." I sighed. "Look I haven't been totally honest with you." I looked over my shoulder to Sig, who was still standing by the door. "To either of you. After all that happened in my life back in Australia I made the choice that I would never love anyone. My feelings for either of you, yes Sig even you, I told you that this morning..."

"This morning? So you will fuck my brother but you won't even allow me to have one kiss?" he spat out at me, and glared at his brother. I had had enough of his attitude, and stormed up and slapped him hard across the face.

"I have NEVER slept with your brother!" I spat at him, feeling myself being pulled back away from Edgar gently by Sig holding onto the top of my arms from behind. "For your information after you stormed out last night I passed out in the bathroom. Jake came in and found me on the floor! Junior fucking found me! I was a goddamn fucking wreck this morning so he called Sig! He was worried I had been fucking raped last night! RAPED, YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Teya…." Said Sig gently. "You need to calm down." I spun around, ripping myself out of his grip.

"Calm down? What would that constitute as Sig? Not screaming and yelling? Because right now I don't feel the need to calm down. I feel the need to smash your brothers face in! I have never felt so degraded, so scared as I did last night." I hissed out. I knew that Sig was right and that I needed to calm down but, honestly, I really did want to smash Edgar's face in right then.

"Like you could even smash my face in Princess." I turned back to Edgar, the left side of his face was already rather red, I did slap him quite hard after all. "You probably couldn't even hurt a butterfly." He goaded. I balled my fists again ready to punch him in the face this time instead of a slap, and started to make my way quickly over to him, only to be waylaid again by Sig, this time by him grabbing me around the waist and pulling me against him. I started to struggle to get loose so I could deck Edgar but Sig was much stronger then I was.

"You wanna fucking bet on that Edgar? I've taken out a cop before and they weren't going easy on me either." I spat at the deck boss.

"Edgar!" snapped Sig, tightening his grip around my waist as I tried once more to get out of his arms and to Edgar to deck him. "That's not helping. Look, I wanted the pair of you to sort out what happened last night like the adults you are supposed to be but I can clearly see that it's not going to happen now. Edgar go back to the boat and stay there till I come back. I'll deal with you there. Teya you need to calm down now."

Edgar stormed out of the room, not looking at either of us as he moved past us and out the door, slamming it as he left. I took several deep breaths to try to calm down, still in Sig's arms, not trusting myself to run after Edgar to punch him and knock him flat on his ass. After a few minutes of standing like we were I finally had calmed down enough to where I thought I would be safe enough to be let go of me.

"You can let me go now Sig. I promise I won't go after him and smash his face in." I sighed, and mumbled under my breath so that he couldn't hear me "even if he does deserve it." He didn't move. "Sig?"

"How can I trust you?" he said. I sighed and tried to wiggle free.

"Trust me. I'm not going to go and hurt your brother now. He's probably long gone by now." I said finally managing to slip through his arm by ducking down, feeling as his arms brush over my breasts and almost head-butting his groin to make sure I didn't break my nose. Almost. I stood back up and faced him, taking a half step back so I wasn't pressing against him.

"Sig, I'm sorry about what happened here. But Edgar and I, we just don't get on." I sighed. He shook his head.

"It's not that you both don't get on, its that you too are too similar then you wish to admit." He sat down on the end of the bed where Jake had been sitting. "You and I need to discuss something as well. Take a seat." I pulled up the remaining dining chair that was still at the table. "Look, I know you said that you can't fall in love with anyone but you have to see if from his side as well. I already explained to you before the season started that he actually likes you and doesn't hate you. I just didn't realise how much he actually felt for you. Now I'm not going to say that you were flirting with him during the season or not, we all had a stressful month so we might have acted a little wacky while we were out there. But things may have appeared to him as if you liked him more then you really do." He ran his fingers through his hair. "God, I hate playing therapist."

"Sig, I'll be honest. I like him, I really do but at the same time you were always on my radar as well. Do you think I would have let you kiss me and get away with it at the beginning of the season if I didn't? Captain or not I would have still put you in your place." I said reminding him of the morning we left for kings and he kissed me in the stateroom. "This whole thing is a mess. I care for both of you more then I want to admit and it scares me. You know of my past, you know the reasons why I don't want to fall in love. How can I trust any man after what happened to me back home? Now more so because of what my father is doing at the moment. He was supposed to love me yet he wishes that I was dead?" I reached over and turned on the kettle to make yet another cup of coffee for Sig and a hot milo for myself.

"You can't live your life comparing everything to what your father did or what happened in Australia. You got to put the past behind you and move on. Mr. Andrews will look into getting you permanent residency here in the States and when that happens you need to begin a new life. Hell you should have started that when you first stepped foot in Seattle." He said, accepting the cup of coffee I handed to him and took a sip.

"Things need to change Teya, and _you_ have to make them change. When this case is all over and done with, take the insurance money and do something with it. Buy a house, a car, even another boat if you want, just do something that you want to do and let that be the start of the changes in your life. Once that is done then and only then can you begin to really deal with what you heart wants you to do, to be with who you want to be with. Whether that be with Edgar or myself, hell even Junior if you want to be with Jake." I scrunched my nose at the thought of going out with Jake, honestly he felt like more of a brother then my own brother had been. "You just got to take that one step to start it all."

"I know. I get what your saying Sig I really do." I sighed. "I guess at the moment I just have to take things one day at a time, one problem after the other." I took a sip of my milo and placed it back on the table.

"Come here." He said, I looked up and he waved me over. I got up and moved to sit next to him on the bed. "No matter what, I promise that I will be there for whatever you decide to do. I'll help you out with whatever you need, you're family now and when the time comes for you to decide who you want to be with, that is if you want to be with anyone of course, I'll be here and waiting." He reached around my shoulders and pulled me in closer and needless to say I was shocked. Sig doesn't hug. "I'm not going to lie, when you're ready - I hope you pick me."

* * *

**Note: That is not a typo when I referred to Senior Senior Constable Mathews. In Australia, or at least in the New South Wales Police force, a Senior Senior Constable is actually ranked as an Incremental Senior Constable, but are referred to as Senior Senior Constable. While I was in my final year of high school I did a work experience placement with New South Wales Police Forces and the female officer I was placed with was referred to as Senior Senior. I had a great week that week actually, even managed to floor one of the male cops during training…..and he wasn't going easy either. Was told I'd make a great cop after they got my results from a series of tests I completed while there. O.o


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Nine**

The month between when we pulled into dock at Dutch and to just before Christmas was just as chaotic as if I were out at sea. I made the decision not to return to Seattle, even though Sig had overturned my punishment of staying here and cleaning the until you could see your face looking back at you from the metal due to the investigation into my brother's passing and the sinking of my boat. The rest of the crew had all headed back to their homes only a couple of days after pulling in and unloading and doing a quick clean. Edgar and Matt were the first ones to leave, I guess he was still upset with me. Sig was the last one to leave, making sure that I was okay with staying here in Dutch by myself for a while, assuring me that he would come back up or fly me out if I needed to leave or something happened with the court case. He left me with a credit card linked to the boat's account in order to start ordering food supplies for the upcoming season.

I spent many afternoons and evenings during the latter half of November and early part of December on the phone talking to Mr. Andrews as well as the New South Wales police and the New South Wales Department of Justice Mr. Andrews was even able to organise a trial date for just before Christmas which was great news for me since it would not interfere with the preparations for Opilio season to much. The trial date was set for the 20th of December and I would be required to appear at the court house in Dutch Harbor to give my statement and be questioned by whoever in Australia.

Having late night conversations about legal work was actually quite tiring and I was glad that I could have the mornings to sleep in, that and I was still recovering from the King Crab season's gruelling work schedule. During those days I was alone and didn't get up till mid to late morning, around ten o'clock, before making breakfast and starting to clean. I'm going to admit this now, I'm a little of a cleaning nut when I get bored and will go over everything multiple times before I am happy.

In the beginning I started with scrubbing the tanks and the deck to get them nice and clean, god know when the deck had a decent scrub down. Despite my OCD'ness about scrubbing everything twice or more, I only did these areas once because they were big area's to clean and really need two people to clean. I spent most of my time cleaning up the staterooms, galley, dry storage, head and wheelhouse. Since I had done most of the cooking during the king season I had an idea of what the others liked to eat. I spent a lot of time in dry storage going through and chucking out old food that had expired or would soon expire. I couldn't believe the amount of food that had been expired for more then a year. With what little food was left I started reorganising the shelves and making a list of what foods to buy to replace what was missing and what I would need to in order to start making frozen meals to whack in the microwave.

One thing I had noticed while we were out at sea was that one of the Discovery Channel producers would sleep in the dry storage area on the shelves and the other either on the wheelhouse floor or the galley benches. I had decided that I would take pity on the men turn one of those shelves into a semi-permanent bed for the poor camera guys. I took measurements of the shelf that I had chosen for the camera guy to sleep on so I could make a decent mattress for them. So once all the shelves and the dry storage had been throughly scrubbed clean, not a speck of dirt, food or rust to be seen, I took my shopping list and headed to town.

I borrowed one the trucks that's normally left behind for the crabbers and pulled into the parking lot of the local shopping centre. I was slowly getting the hang on driving on the right hand side of the road, however I was still used to driving on the left since that was the way I grew up. I hopped out an grabbed one of the massive trolleys that the store normally reserves for the major shopping trips all the vessels do before they leave and started to work my way down the aisles grabbing the things on my list. However I eventually hit a snag when one of the items that I wanted was unable to fit in my trolley due to the cart being almost full and I was only partway through the list. I sighed and decided that I would have to return another day for the next part of my list. That is until I was interrupted by someone.

"Hey you need hand there, ma'am?" I turned and faced the young man who had spoken. His face was vaguely familiar but I couldn't put a name to it. "You got a lot of stuff there."

"Oh no, it's alright. I'm just buying things for the boat." He raised his eyebrow, lifting his hat and rubbing he head before replacing it.

"The boat? Which boat you on? I thought most of the fleet was done by now." I turned back to the aisle and grabbed another thing on my list before starting to walk. I nodded.

"Oh we have finished already, have been for a week or so now. The men have gone home while I stayed here and started prepping for next season." I came upon the herbs and spices section of the store and sighed in relief, the boat was severely lacking in both areas. What supplies they had were either too old to use or were just about out of. I started grabbing the jars and putting them in the trolley.

"They left you here? Which boat? Do I need to go talk to the captain for you?" I laughed at the man and shook my head, grabbing the ground ginger before picking up the ground cinnamon.

"Oh no the Captain's gone as well. It was my choice to stay here, he was all for sending me back to Seattle with the rest of the crew however there are one or two not so little snags that stop me from going." Grabbing more herbs from the shelves, frowning as I noticed that I was only going to have room for one or two more jars and I still had two thirds of a shopping list to go for now.

"Oh and which Captain is that?" he asked, grabbing the jars from my hands and placing them in the trolley he was pushing which was mostly full of chocolate and candy, two things that my trolley lacked in. I frowned at the action.

"Sig Hansen." His eyes widened a little as he slowly realised just who exactly I was. It was no secret that the 'mermaid' was still around and that she worked on the _Northwestern_, it was just many didn't know my actual name or what I looked like until they went to the Elbow Room and saw the photo taken at Hallowe'en, and after one too many drinks they would forget all about the photo.

"You're the mermaid?" he said, I rolled my eyes, even now after all these years people still are surprised and awed at meeting the infamous mermaid of Dutch Harbor, mainly it's the greenhorns who are in awe. "Pleasure to meet you ma'am. Captain Scott Campbell Junior, but you can call me Junior." He held out his right hand and I noticed that part of one of his fingers was missing, most likely in some incident on the boat. I shook his hand.

"Call me Teya please. I'm a little over being called Princess, Duchess or the Mermaid." I said pushing my trolley to the register. "Sorry to cut this meeting short Captain but I better go and pay for all of these and get them back to the boat. Lord knows how many trips its going to take me to restock dry storage."

"You can leave the trolley at the counters you know. The cashiers can even start totalling and bagging it for you if you like while you go and finish the rest of the shopping." He pointed out. I looked up at him, tilting my head slightly trying to suss him out.

"Seriously? Because that would help me so much right now. I still have about two thirds of the list to do and thats just what is on the list! No impulse buys either." I felt a little more relaxed about shopping knowing that I could get it all done in one trip instead of running to and from the boat every day.

"Sure they can. Come on, we'll go ask and I can give you a hand to get the rest of the stuff you need and get it back to the _Northwestern._" He said pushing his trolley to the counter and I followed him.

"Excuse me, but can she leave her cart here while she finishes shopping for the rest of her list? It's for the _Northwestern_ if you could start boxing and packing for her please." He said laying on the charm.

"Isn't it a little early to be restocking the boats? Normally they don't come in till January to buy things." Said the cashier, clearly puzzled as to why someone was shopping way to early. "And last I was aware there was no females on the _Northwestern." _I scowled at the young woman behind the register who was giving me a not so nice look. It wasn't quite the evil eye but it was definitely not a friendly look.

"Oh there is definitely a woman working on the _Northwestern_. I'm sure you heard all about the mermaid in the harbor." I said, glaring at the young woman, who was she to know who was working on what boats. "That was me and I got the suit on the boat to prove it. Now, either do your job and start bagging these up or I will pay for these now, leave and go to one of the other stores on the island. I'm sure the manager and owner wont be too impressed if they suddenly lost business from one of the boats that keeps this little store open." I could feel Junior staring at me as if I had grown another head but I continued to stare down the cashier. I was more then willing to keep my word on going to another store, hell I'd even go to Akutan or Kodiak to go shopping if I needed to. Sig would probably kill me for spending so much money just to get groceries but if it lead to this girl, I refused to call her woman, being sacked then so be it. I could tell that she was having a hard time trying to decide what to do, but her loyalty to the store won out and she started bagging up the first trolley. I smirked left the trolley there, grabbed my two jars out of Juniors cart and grabbed a second cart before heading back to the spices aisle leaving Junior behind with the cashier.

"What was all that about?" asked Junior, I rolled my eyes while still placing the rest of the hers and spices into the cart, knowing he couldn't see it.

"She was a presumptuous little tart and I have no patience when it comes to dealing with people like that. Just because she works here and sees the guys when they come into the store doesn't mean that she knows what they are like nor who is on what boat. People switch around a lot so the news might not be all that current. Not to mention I am dead sure that nearly everyone in Dutch knows that there was a female on the boat this year." I started pushing the cart again and started on the next part of the list. Junior kept me company while I did the shopping, which was both welcome and not welcomed at the same time. I was glad to be able to talk to someone who wasn't from the _Northwestern_ who seemed nice enough, and I was grateful for the help he provided when it came time to pack the truck. And since not all the groceries fitting in the back of the truck he offered to take some and help me unload the shopping as well, which I was more then grateful for, I didn't want to be jumping on and off the boat when no one was around. However I wasn't comfortable with him tailing me everywhere.

Before we left to go back to the boat I hit up the local sewing and fabric store as well as the hardware store to get foam and some wood to knock together a couple of storage containers so food wouldn't go flying all over the place. Once the last bits and pieces were ordered ready for delivery later that day I made my way back to the _Northwestern_, Junior following in his truck. I jumped down to the deck and had him toss me the different boxes and stacked them into the galley. Once all the boxes were on board I waved good bye with the promise of going around to the Elbow Room for a drink later that night he departed and left me alone to begin my storage war.

What should have taken only around ten to fifteen minutes took nearly an hour as I unpacked, sorted and stored the food. Spices on the right just as you walk into the storage area and then the fruit and vegetables would go in crates on the floor - which I still had to knock together when the wood arrived. Flours and other baking ingredients next to the spices and the canned goods next to the flours. Finally everything was organised and in hard plastic, durable containers I headed back to the galley to go over the rest of my purchases.

I thought I would surprise the guys when they came back with new comforters, sheets, pillows as well as new curtains for the staterooms and the wheelhouse. The old ones were looking threadbare and were only just keeping the sunlight out, not to mention there were very 1970's with floral prints. I had grabbed two bolts of white and blue curtain material instead of just normal cotton cloth. The curtain material was heavier and thicker so it would keep the light out better, not to mention the curtains would now match the boat's colour scheme better. Floral, really?

After taking all the measurements for the racks in the staterooms and writing them down, making a note of who's bed was who's I started sketching out different quilt designs for each of the crew members, I then also started measuring out the curtains. I began to get a little hungry and when I looked at the clock I hadn't realised how much time had passed. It was already early evening and it was nearing the time that I was to meet with Junior. I left the papers and materials out and went to have a quick shower, got dressed and headed up to the Elbow Room.

I hadn't been to the Elbow Room since the Hallowe'en party before King Crab season and not much had changed. I grabbed a lemonade from the bar and grabbed a menu to order look over and grabbed at one of the tables in the corner. I was looking over the menu when a woman's voice interrupted my internal debate over chicken, fish or steak.

"Do you mind if I sit with you? You are looking like you need some company." I looked up and eyed the woman. Brown hair, brown eyes, taller then I am, a little older as well. I waved my hand at the empty seat at the table.

"Go right ahead, I was just waiting on someone to show up. Evidently I am still early or his is still working on his boat." Her eyebrows rose.

"Captain or crew?" she asked me before taking a sip of her drink.

"Captain. He was kind enough to give me a hand earlier today to get some shopping back to the boat I work on since the rest of the crew on mine have gone back home. I thought I would buy him dinner as a way to say thank you." She giggled. "What? It's just dinner."

"Sure sweetie, you keep telling yourself that. There's only three things, actually no make that four things that a fisherman on this island wants. To catch the crab, to get drunk on cheap booze, a good, quick lay and to get off this island as quickly as possible. You my dear fall under the category of a quick lay."

"I highly doubt that he is going to want to get into my panties. If he even wanted to try he'd be in big trouble. I can do a lot worse then what I did to the Hillstrands and that was just a prank. Imagine what I could do if I was a woman scorned." Her eyebrows crinkled as she tried to figure out what I meant, I rolled my eyes and pointed to a picture on the wall. The one of the the _Northwestern_ crew dressed up for Hallowe'en. What is it with people and not realising who am I today?

"Oh! I get it, sorry I didn't recognise you." She laughed, putting her hand out. "My name is Leanne. I live up the road." I reached out and shook her hand.

"Teya Jansen. Currently of the _Northwestern_. So did you move to Dutch or are you a native?" Leanne shook her head.

"Oh no. I moved here. Been here for about five years now. My partner at the time wanted to move here due to his job. He was the head chef at the Grand Aleutian for a while. We divorced while we lived here and I got the house and car here in Dutch, he got just about everything else. I'd love to leave one day and go back to the mainland but for now I'm happy. What about you? What are you doing here in Dutch?"

"Aside from the obvious? I have an aversion to planes and wasn't allowed to sail the boat back to Seattle. Cost too much money to do that." Leanne laughed and I took a sip of my drink. "Honestly I'm okay with being here. Its quiet, sort of, I couldn't stand Seattle it was too noisy. When we came back to the docks I watched the plane come in and out of here and I decided that there was no way I was going on that goose! It was bad enough coming from Australia to Los Angeles on the jet."

"Fear of heights?" she asked and I shook my head.

"Oh no, more like a fear of crashing to a fiery death. That and I don't do well with crowds in small places. I've spent too long on my own to want to be in crowds of more then twenty or so people." Leanne laughed at my half-mock shuddering.

"You picked the wrong boat to work on then. The _Northwestern_ is pretty much an icon for this industry. Where ever you go now people will recognise you and you will be required to go to events, signings, radio interviews…" Leanne's list went on and my eyes slowly got wider as I realised just exactly how big this show actually was. Sure I had a small taste of it while I was in Seattle walking around with Jake. "Chances are you will probably get recognised more now then most of the men on the show, since you would be the first real female crabber featured on the show. I mean there was Donna from the _Maverick_ but she was a boat mum, you on the other hand are a deckhand and on camera more then she was."

"How do you know all this?" I squeaked out, having gone slightly pale at what she was describing.

"Huh? Oh, my mother was a PR manager for some big shot studio in Vancouver before she moved to Toronto. I grew up watching her organising events and functions for the studio. That and seriously, did you watch the show at all? It's pretty much just guys out there, with the exception of Donna, but the _Maverick_ isn't going to be on it anymore according to the rumour mill."

"Not until just before tendering. I'd never even heard of Deadliest Catch." I signalled to the waitress that I would like to order my food, since it seems that Junior wasn't going to show up anytime soon. "I met the guys in Australia while they were on holiday, my boat broke down and then one drunken night and a meeting with the American Embassy later I'm on my way to the States." I placed my order in, having decided on the chicken pasta dish and ordered another pitcher of lemonade.

"Why do I get the feeling there is more to the story then your telling me?" asked Leanne also placing an order in.

"Because there is, and to be honest, I've just met you. How can I know if you are trustworthy or not, no offence." I said. Leanne laughed hard and I somehow knew that we would become good friends given time and one of the few female friends I would have.

"You probably should since I'm one of the people who gives you your paycheck after each offload. I work over at Trident and sign off on all the checks to the boats on top of my normal receptionist duties." She smiled.

"Well then you have my implicit trust. Wouldn't want to not get paid now." I said semi-sarcastically. "You screw us over and you know you would be in for a whole world of trouble. Sig would be the least of your problems, you would have a whole boat who would be after your arse." I joked, however I was actually half serious, thankfully Leanne had a funny side.

"If I had ten dollars for every time someone has said something along those lines in the office to the newbies I would be able to afford a new car by now." Leanne lent forward. "Between you and me there is going to be a temporary position opening up for Opilio season since one of the girls screwed over one of the boats. Rumour has it that she was also sleeping with the boss."

"Is nothing secret on this island?" I mock groaned, covering my face in my hands, Leanne nodded. "Just what I wanted, everyone knowing about the tattoo on my arse."

"Care to show the class? I for one would be very interested in seeing this tattoo." Came a male voice behind me and I immediately turned beet red and Leanne burst out laughing. "Mind if I sit down ladies?"

"Evening Captain. What brings you up to the Elbow Room on this fine evening?" asked Leanne, still trying to stifle her laughter. I turned my head away in embarrassment and tried not to look Junior in the eye. Trust a guy to turn up just when you don't want them too. Leanne looked at me and mouthed 'reason number three'.

"Sorry I'm late, there was an incident on the boat that needed to be sorted out before I left. Did you order already?" I nodded, still a little embarrassed to speak. "Good, wouldn't want you to go hungry. Not sure what those Norwegians would be feeding you on that boat." I glared at him.

"I'll have you know that I was the one who did the majority of the cooking while we were fishing, thank you very much." I snapped at him, a little defensive about the guys who had taken me on, albeit with some protesting. "I had no intention of going hungry will on that boat. Three meals a day plus snacks in between, I'm pretty sure I put on weight while out there."

"Sweetheart, I doubt you put on anything out there, we tend to lose a lot of weight out there." He said while eyeing me up and down. Leanne rolled her eyes and a made subtle 'three' gesture which I caught. She just plastered an innocent look on her face and took a sip of her drink. "I won't join you for dinner tonight, I've got a lot of work to do before we leave to go back to the mainland but I didn't want to leave such a pretty lady sitting in a rough place like this all by her little lonesome. Drinks are on me tonight."

"As you can clearly see Captain Campbell she is not alone now." Chimed in Leanne, finally deciding to do some 'damage control'. "And I'm sure that no one would want to mess with her after what she did to the Hillstrands. I've even heard whispers from the boats that participated in tendering that someone swore that they saw someone tied up and hoisted out over the ocean butt naked." I burst out laughing at the memory.

"Oh my god! Someone actually saw that?" I had no idea that someone had actually seen that, since it was early in the morning. Leanne and Junior both gave me this weird look so I explained. "During the summer Edgar and I got involved in a prank war. He took it one step too far one day so I retaliated by drugging him, having Jakers strip him and put him in a pair of my underwear, a thong that I hadn't used yet, and tied him up and put him on the crane over the ocean. He was fuming but it was so funny! I still have the photos somewhere."

"Damn woman! First the mermaid prank now this? Remind me that I never want to get on your bad side." Said Junior.

"Really? You have photos of a near naked Edgar floating around out there? WHY haven't you given these to me yet? WHY?!" asked Leanne, excitedly. "I thought I was your friend." She placed a hand over her heart mockingly.

"Leelee I only just met you so forgive me if I don't carry around pictures of a very near naked Edgar with me at all times." I said to her, taking a sip of my drink, watching Junior out of the corner of my eye trying not to imagine a fellow crabber butt naked. "Besides if those photos go into circulation then how am I supposed to have my blackmail material if he ever tries to do something to me. Those photos are going to stay hidden until I need to use them. Sorry, but I can tell you he does have a nice arse and definitely packs a very nice package." I winked at her while giving a sly grin as I watched Junior start to really get grossed out.

"To much information Teya. I really didn't need a mental picture of Edgar in the buff. Urgh! I need mind bleach now. It's almost as bad as having to imagine what it would look like seeing Keith climb up the mast in his tighty whiteys. It'll be a cold day in hell if that ever happens and whoever is there and watching would be scarred for life." He mock shudder.

"Oh gross Campbell! Why would you even WANT to imagine such a thing." Cried out Leanne, rubbing her eyes as if she had actually seen such a thing happen right then.

"God Junior. Really? You had to make us think of that horror?" I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the image. "Just for that we shall continue our girl talk about men's 'arses and assets.' So Leelee, now that you know about Edgar and his…"

"Okay, okay I get it! Please don't start talking about the other guys junk unless you want to compare it to mine." Junior gave a sleezy grin and I looked at Leanne and quickly flicked my eyes to her full glass and back to Junior. Thankfully Leanne got the message and grabbed her drink the same time I did. Junior didn't know what hit him as he was suddenly covered in lemonade and a screwdriver.

"What the fuck?" he yelled out suddenly, jumping out of his chair and attracting the attention of the bar. I stood up glaring at the man in front of me.

"Never try to proposition me again. I am not a bar whore. Try it again and I swear to god you will no longer be in possession of what makes you a man." I looked around the room, many of the men shifting in their seats slightly at the threat to 'protect' their goods. I glared at all the men in the room. "That goes for all of you. You can look but you can't touch or ask or I will castrate you in the most painful possible way. Balls and all." I stalked over to the bar and asked the waitress to call me on my phone when my meal was ready to be picked up and that I now would like it as takeaway and walked out of the bar and to the truck.

"Well I must say that that was not how I was expecting my night to go." I heard from behind me, noticing as Leanne had followed me out of the bar. "That was some of the best entertainment I've had in a while." I laughed at her comment, while it was satisfying to a point I wasn't exactly enough to curb my tastes but it would have to do.

"Indeed. Some of the best entertainment I've had while I've been here in Dutch actually."

"Really? Girl you need to get out more." Laughed Leanne, coming and leaning on the side of the truck next to where I was standing.

"Haha yeah, I should probably go back and get changed into my short skirt and tube top and hit the nightclub." I pretended to seriously consider the option, however I didn't even own said articles of clothing. "Oh wait, that's right this rock in the middle of nowhere doesn't have a nightclub."

"Why don't you come round to my place then? I'm sure I can find some alcohol and some chick flicks around that we can watch."

"Thanks but I can't. I really should be heading back to the boat I have a list a mile long of things I need to do before the guys come back. That and I'm not really a fan of the whole chick flick thing." I said, leaning back against the truck and looking up at the sky.

"What can you have to do that will take that long to complete? Surely the guys didn't leave you hear expecting you to clean the entire boat did they?" I rolled my head to the right and looked at her with the 'are you serious' look.

"Leanne these are guys, do they ever clean to our standards?" I said. "In the beginning, yeah, Sig actually expected me to clean the entire boat by myself as punishment for the whole mermaid stunt." I noticed Leanne's mouth dropped. "He doesn't expect it now though. I can't go into details but lets just say something big happened and its taking a lot of my evenings away to do things. This was my first night off for two weeks. During the day I've been cleaning. I went out and bought some foam to make a mattress out of for one of the camera guys and I plan to make some half decent sheets and doona's for the guys."

"Doo-nah's? What the hell is a doo-nah?" I gave a small laugh.

"It's Doona. It's what we Australians call a comforter. A big thick fluffy blanket to keep you warm in winter. You're not the first person who has looked at me funny when I say something Australian. I'm always clarifying sayings to the guys and calling them 'mate'." I felt the phone in my pocket vibrate and I pulled it out looking at the number and ignoring it since I knew it was from inside telling me that dinner was ready to collect.

"Seriously? That's an actual thing you Australians do, call people mate?" I pushed off the truck and started to make my way inside the bar to collect dinner.

"Yeah, we call complete strangers 'mate'. Some even go as far as calling their mates 'cunt' but I find that is too vulgar. I'll only be a minute, wait here." I opened the door and made my way inside to gather my meal and head straight back out.

"Sorry about that Leanne, I've been hanging out for something that isn't fish or crab that I haven't made myself in a long time." I said placing my bag on the hood of the truck as I started to look for my keys.

"That's fine. I'll let you go back to the boat only if you promise that you'll come round to dinner to my place on Sunday. I make a mean Sunday roast and cooking it for one is never fun, too many leftovers." I nodded absently intent on finding the keys to the car. "Great! I'll come around and get you at six. I'll let you go, have a good night Teya. It was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too Leanne and thanks for the hand with Captain Douche Canoe." I said looking back up having found my keys.

"Captain Douche Canoe? Haha I like that! See ya round!" Leanne waved as turned and walked back into the bar. I grabbed my meal and went back to the boat intent on at least finishing the designs for each doona cover.

* * *

The days following passed in a similar manner. I would wake up around mid morning and make a breakfast, after that I would start working on the comforters and curtains for a couple of hours before making lunch and starting on making meals to freeze down for opilio season. Occasionally Leanne would come around for lunch when she was at work, and on the weekends she would even help out with making the meals while I sewed. While I was cooking I would talk to the others. I spoke about everything with Jake but mainly what I was making and what to expect to eat during the upcoming season. Norman and Nick would tell me what they were doing and Nick said his wife couldn't wait to meet me, however I had yet to hear from Edgar. In the evenings I would be on the phone to Sig, Mr. Andrews or the New South Wales Department of Justice until late in the night discussing the court case which was rapidly approaching. Every Sunday after Leanne and I first met I would go around to her place and have a roast dinner, we were both becoming very good friends as I had suspected we would.

Soon everything was ready for the men to return. Sig had informed me that he was going to be coming back early for a few days for the trial. He would return to Seattle for Christmas with his family. I wasn't sure if the others were coming to lend support or not but I still made sure that the boat was ready for inspection. The new bed set up in dry storage for the camera crew and the new comforters on the beds along with the curtains hanging proudly in the staterooms and the wheelhouse.

Sig arrived back in Dutch two days before the trial along with Mr. Andrews who would be staying at the Grand Aleutian Hotel. I went to go and meet them at the airport so they didn't have to catch a taxi back and to my surprise the entire crew had come to help with the trial. Mr. Andrews explained that they were to give character references and to confirm their statements they had made to the police. I called Leanne who had the day off to bring around her car so I didn't need to make multiple trips to pick them up. It didn't take long for Leanne to make it to the airport, having already been on standby just in case. It was early evening and we had all decided that we would have dinner at the hotel instead of the Elbow Room, thinking Mr Andrews would prefer a more 'refined' dining experience then eating at the pub.

I pulled up at the hotel with Sig and Jake in the truck with me making idle chatter about the case, the weather, what ever came to our minds really, however I didn't mention the 'changes' I had made to the boat, not sure how that would go over with the guys. We all got out and headed inside, Leanne leaving to head home and finishing the laundry she had to do, and met with the others and sat down to discuss the case over dinner. After saying our good nights to Mr Andrews we made our way back to the boat, Edgar, Matt and Norman taking a cab back to the boat.

When we arrived the others had already headed inside. Sig, Jake and Nick grabbed their belongings while I took the car back up the dock and into the shelter before walking back up. I should have known something was going on since it was far too quiet on the boat. I jumped across and made my way inside, stopping short as I realised that the guys were still standing in the galley with their gear. Sig swung around to face me, an odd expression on his face.

"Teya, what the hell did you do to our boat?" It was only then did I realise just exactly how much trouble I would be in because of the changes.

* * *

I remember talking to someone via PM back when this story first started about what would happen if Teya rearranged the Northwestern, well guess what happened? Lol.


End file.
